VIDEO. How to talk better with the philosopher and writer Gérald Garutti

“Today, we talk more and more, we talk to each other less and less”, confides Gérald Garutti. For the philosopher, speech deteriorates with individuals where “everyone is in their own world and the common space no longer exists”. And this phenomenon is accentuated with social networks. For Gérald Garutti, the internet and its applications represent neither good nor evil. They are more like a catalyst, which accentuates human phenomena that are deeper and older, such as the logic of individualization. In this logic, this individuality tends to lock everyone into the idea that “everything that is not like me does not exist or has no right to exist” is a threat, explains the philosopher.

Screens also lull individuals into a great illusion: that everything is achievable from a distance, that everything can be resolved. This permanent possibility of being reachable engages an obligation: the injunction to respond. “We have less and less attention span, we are saturated with messages”, which leads to less and less favorable listening.

Solutions for talking to each other better

For Gérald Garutti, a transformation of the relationship to language operates, with new practices related to screens. “With messages, we have both the rapid side of the oral and the fixity of the written word, which also poses problems since we will misinterpret”, hence the invention of smileys. Faced with a badly deciphered email, for example, the philosopher explains that a discussion could resolve the misunderstanding, with the use of speech, live. For him, revaluing speech means allowing better listening, often undermined by concentration on oneself, unavailability and the inability to be attentive. “The word, it is learned, it is worked. This elaboration, for me it’s called an art”, adds Gerald Garutti. Discover the seven fundamental pillars of speech and the dimensions of humanity in the continuation of the video.