Northern Overexposure
  • Home
  • Musical Interludes
  • Blog
  • Contact Me

Seneca and Social Media

2/22/2021

1 Comment

 
I have been marinating in the philosophy of the ancient Greek and Roman Stoa and, in particular, Seneca's letter. Seneca was one of the great Roman bureaucrats, orators, and philosophers. His letters weather well, and even though, obviously, Seneca did not have access to modern technology, I wonder what his opinion of the media-scape would be.

I think, on the whole, Seneca would be negative. Social media is mostly a narcissistically driven enterprise interested in clicks, emotive baiting,  uncritical thinking, partisan rancour, and censorious attitudes.

Yet, it has helped me access content and has provided fodder for my contemplation - provided that I take the time to contemplate and not plunge into the media-scape for more information. But alas, J'accuse!

But this problem lies with me, of course, and here the Stoics help as well. Still, Seneca's caution about using words in his letters is as proper today as when he wrote it. 

Seneca is responding to a friend who listened to a philosopher, Serapio. We don't have Seneca's friend's letter but based on Seneca's response, we can glean what his friend thought of this philosopher's delivery.  Seneca's response is a good one for anyone posting on social media, including me.

'His words,' you say, 'tend to be tumbled out a tremendous pace, pounded and driven along rather than poured out, for they come in a volume no one voice could cope with''.  I do not approve of this in a philosopher, whose delivery - like his life - should be well-ordered; nothing can be well regulated if it is done in a breakneck hurry...You should take the view, then, that this copious. and impetuous energy in a speaker is better suited to a hawker than to someone who deals with a matter of great importance and is also a teacher.

We, who use the media and produce content no matter how small (such as this blog) or large (such as networks and popular content creators) should take Seneca's letter to heart. 

Seneca argues that we should avoid polemics or inflammatory prose in our language. Instead, "language, moreover, which devotes its attention to truth ought to be plain and unadorned. This (the political and popular media rhetoric of his day and ours) has nothing to do with truth. Its object is to sway a mass audience, to carry away unpractised ears by the force of its onslaught. It never submits itself to detailed discussion, is just wafted away. Besides, how can a thing possibly govern others when it cannot be governed itself.

I think we need vigorous, sustained debate on many of the economic, social, and cultural policies affecting our world, particularly post-pandemic. 

The Stoics argue that fear should not govern our life, and this emotion should not drive what we know to be the social good. Yes, we need to protect the vulnerable but the cure cannot be worse than the disease. This advice applies to pandemic responses and responses to so-called dangerous ideas on the internet. Free expression and free flow of ideas are essential for humanity. It is part of the divine logos that inheres in each of us who are part of the cosmological whole. 

So free expression - YES. At the same time, take heed, though, people communicating on the internet or cable t.v. should embody Seneca's advice on their use of language! 

A way of speaking that is restrained, not bold, suits the wise person.
1 Comment
A
2/22/2021 11:26:06 am

Very interesting and insightful!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    My Pensées

    The title of this blog is an allusion to the famous work of Blaise Pascal.  This blog represents the variety of my interests and thoughts on any given day and are  strung together, like Pascal's Pensees, in no particular order. I work in the field of mental health,  education, and human rights. I write and am a human rights advocate. I enjoy poetry, jazz, spirituality, politics and a potpourri of other interests that you will see reflected in this blog.

    Archives

    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.