What do looking at someone and respecting them have in common? Is there a relationship between looking at someone and respecting them? At first, it may seem that these two concepts have no relation; however, in order to respect it is necessary to learn to look at our world, the people around us and our actions. In this text we will explain the relationship between looking and respecting, and we will explain how looking at our daily life in an attentive way will allow us to have an attitude of respect towards others.
According to Josef Piper, modern man has a decadence in seeing the things that surround him. Man’s vision is not able to capture what is essential in things; we no longer contemplate, appreciate or admire life, works of art, music, and therefore we no longer capture what is essential in people; there is a decadence in the gaze. When one enters Instagram or Facebook, the important thing is not to contemplate a painting that appears, or reflect on a piece of writing or news, but to consume and pass the eyes through so much information. You no longer look, you pass your eyes, you do not contemplate the essential but consume. Have you ever wondered how many commercials are shown on a television program? How many hours do people spend on Instagram or other social networks?
Precisely, as Pieper mentions, man’s ability to see is in decline because there is too much to look at. Just as too much noise does not allow us to hear a song, the sound of birds or the plea of a person, too much visual pollution does not allow us to see the essence of things. There is so much to look at that nothing is looked at. Social networks seem to be a sea where there is always something to observe, “the trend”, “the viral”, “the latest”, “the most commented or trended”. Identifying the problem is fundamental to know how to combat it. Also, says Pieper, man does not know how to look because he does not have time to see the essential, he lives in an accelerated way, without having time or rest to look at what is really important to contemplate. Isn’t it usual to hear that we should be multitasking? But is multitasking a virtue?
On the other hand, looking attentively and respect are related, as Esquirol states. He explains that even the very etymology of the word respect is related to knowing how to look, and says that “The Latin respectus derives from the verb respicere, which means “to look back”, “to look attentively”, “to look back”, “to look back”, “to look back”, “to look back” (Esquirol, 2006. p. 65) Respect is an attitude that allows us to grasp the essentials of anything in the world in order to treat it as it deserves. And one only captures the essential and treats it as it deserves if one looks at it attentively, if one looks at it again, that is to say, if one respects it.
That is why there must be a concern to look attentively at our world, because if one looks carefully the attitude towards the world and people will be different. But, in a world where gaze and contemplation is in decline, what can be done to look better and therefore to have an attitude of respect for the people around us? Josef Pieper in a text read at WYA’s Certified Training Program gives answers: the first is to leave aside all the information that does not allow us to see clearly, to leave aside visual pollution, and to propose an abstinence in the consumption of images. In this way, the human eye will be able to grasp what is essential. Another solution that Pieper gives us is to make an artistic creation, either through painting, writing, sculpture; this is because the artist’s eyes need to capture that which is hidden or often unnoticed in order to put it in his work. There is a certain contemplation and attentive look in the words of the poet when he says that “the eye is not an eye because you see it but because it sees you”.
So, abstaining from consuming and creating art is a solution to be able to see attentively. But also, as Pieper and Esquirol mentioned, having a space of leisure, of free time to be able to contemplate the things that happened during the day, a space of introspection to be able to look inside ourselves and to be able to capture what is valuable that all human beings have; to make a pause in the accelerated life of the society of entertainment and tiredness. Having a moment to pay attention to our breathing, to our pulsations, to our thoughts and to our life is also a solution to be able to look attentively and to be able to see what is valuable in the world and in this way to respect it.
Published: November 17, 2021
Written by Ricardo Suarez, project management intern for WYA Latin America.
References:
Esquirol, J (2006) El respeto o la mirada atenta. Una ética para la era de la ciencia y la tecnología. Barcelona: Gedisa.
