Are we numbers?
05.06.23 - 16h28
Carla Rodrigues Cardoso
- What grade did you get, son?
- Fifteen.
- So why? Weren't you expecting a 17?
- I don't know, Dad.
……...
- I'd like to make a complaint.
- User number, please?
……….
- “For information, press 1. For faults, press 2 (…) to return to the initial menu, press 9”
……….
Numbers are everywhere and cash moves the world. The word, writing and people are disappearing at the same pace as the world's population grows.
At the distance of a click and an alphanumeric key embellished with special characters to stay strong, we have access to all kinds of services. "Do it yourself and without anyone's help". Doubts? Less and less telephone or e-mail to clarify them. More and more automated forms and help.
Numbers without explanation, services without people. Cult of individualism. Days in front of screens. We don't need anyone. Closed in on themselves, we can only think what to do. Alone. An increasingly warm, accompanied, happy future is approaching. It's healthy. Is it?
Carla Rodrigues Cardoso
Director of the Master in Journalism and Media Studies and the Degree in Communication and Journalism Researcher at CICANT - ECATI
