Humberto Maturana, acclaimed Chilean biologist and philosopher, wrote in the book Objectivity that what makes us human and allows us to form societies is love. He describes love not as romantic love, with which we are so familiar from Hollywood, but as that empathic ability of acceptance that allows us to recognize and value the other for their simple existence. This conception of love can evoke Buddha, for whom the essence of this feeling is to desire the happiness of the other hand in hand with equanimity, blurring that separation that makes others “other”; even love can remind us of Jesus, who sacrificed himself for humanity as an act of love.
I begin by talking about love because its meaning has long been perverted, burned and twisted to make it a commercial product, and now that humanity is suffering more and more from its own actions – climate change, pandemic, economic crises, etc. , it is essential to rescue the foundations that allow us to love each other to value ourselves and grow together.
However, it is not only love that is exploited in entertainment and marketing. Violence and hatred are becoming increasingly popular in the entertainment products and services we consume. Even more worrying: more and more they reach the younger generations, practically incapable of being critical of the content they frequent, such as series and films that promote insensitivity, indifference.
A few weeks ago I was surprised that almost everyone around me was talking about The Squid Game. Although I am a fan of watching series and I live attached to Netflix, I had no idea about this new series and its rise. But the biggest surprise was finding my students (ages 8-11) talking about this content. I like to know their tastes to be able to connect and use material from some scenes to explain scientific phenomena in class, so I set about starting the happy series.
I find myself puzzled to see such raw violence and reflection of society in a series. In the case of a teenager at the gates After finishing high school, a young adult and from then on, could be seen under a critical lens (leaving my optimism aside, as this does not happen frequently in a society like Colombia). However, I wonder how it is possible for a child to be exposed to, and consume, this type of content. Do you have an adult by your side to accompany you and make some reflections about it? Do you have any parental care filters on your electronic devices? If you’ve seen this series, what else have you seen?
Remember when the pandemic started and we were alarmed by the cases that were reported in the news? A short time later they stopped being lives and became just numbers. The same happens with many other catastrophes where the death report does not cause any kind of sadness, because we do not magnify the seriousness that those numbers represent. We become numb and we are letting children be even more numb from an earlier and younger age. Why? What will this loss of sensitivity bring? If for Maturana love makes us human, could it be that we are in times of dehumanization? What good is it that some actors in society, such as teachers (yes, not all, but I hope the point is understood), we try to instill fundamental values (regardless of the philosophical or religious perspective) such as love, if children do they receive the same message in the rest of the environments in which they live?
I close this opinion by recommending families not to trust the internet and the criteria of their children: they are children! They need a guide to interpret the world, do not leave them alone in front of this type of content that can lead them to lose sensitivity, lose love for themselves and for others.
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