The Internet is a blessing, but also a trap. Some people admit that the internet is humanity's most important invention. There's even an International Internet Day, 29 October. Others say the internet is the greatest curse that has ever befallen mankind. Which is true? I would like each of you at this moment to think of one good thing that the internet has brought you. You don't have to verbalize it, just hold it in your hearts as proof that the internet can do good. Loosely translated, "internet" means "interconnected" or "intertwined". Together, as in a whole network, we are interconnected, and the internet has shortened the boundaries between us. However, in an age of globalization and technology, actor Eugen Racoți, now 86, tearfully urges us not to lose the "human touch" and let it slip through our fingers.
Good and evil use the same tool. Technology has become an extension of the human hand. Therefore, I would say that we are entirely responsible for the influence that the internet has on us. Whether positive, to become our ally or best friend, or negative, to feel it as our fiercest and most chronic enemy. If since the 17th century, the idea circulated that "You are what you eat", in the 21st century, it seems that you ARE WHAT YOU WATCH. We are responsible for the content we pursue, but also for the energy it fuels us with. We are responsible for this essential choice: do we let the content we pursue flood our minds and souls?
Despite this, we are not a product of technology, we are made of humanity, love and heaven. As I like to say. Knowing who we are, I think we should ask ourselves whether we are investing or, on the contrary, wasting our time with what we pursue. So, let's ask ourselves if what we're pursuing is charging us up or, rather, draining us and leaving us drained of soul energy, click by click... like by like.
Since 2010, we have been marking World Social Media Day on 30 June. Can you think of one reason why you're grateful to social networks around the world? The naked truth is that most people spend a lot of time on social networks. Too much time. I think these days we are faced with a few choices that have the power to really decide our happiness. We need to make all these choices consciously. Because what we choose to pursue simply defines us. All too well, I could have titled this speech - HOW TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA CONSCIOUSLY. Undoubtedly, social media is a very toxic tool if we don't use it correctly. It's like the Chinese drop. Slowly but surely. It can destroy us. Or it can uplift us.
In the 21st century, we may not be able to change the world, but we certainly have a good chance of changing the world next door. As well as our inner world. Through the internet, using social networks, I have chosen to join you, talking about the people of yesterday. Yesterday, but so relevant today. For me, knowledge is the only way to break down the wall of ignorance between us. Here I am, in front of you, in Suceava, in my hometown, on the stage of the People of Justice, to tell you what I have learned from my experience over the years, alone, starting from the simple desire to sow in people's hearts the joy of knowledge. I am convinced that good is not always done in silence. We need echoes to spread beauty.
"History on the Grater" is the name of my pet project. I started this initiative for people, but also in memory of my father. Back then, in 2018, it was one year since he passed away. In the beginning, I didn't have a target. If I happened to have one, maybe everything became mechanical, a "task". I think nowadays we are oversaturated with daily tasks that age us and rob us of the beauty of the fleeting moment. Have you ever noticed that sometimes it seems like we run out of time? I think time is enough. The moment is not enough for us because we let it slip through our fingers far too easily and we don't aim to dwell in it as much as possible. To be present in our own lives.
Even then, without knowing it, I was entering, post by post, a metaverse, the metaverse of knowledge. Although the term was coined as early as 1992, the concept has taken shape in recent years.
A few years after I opened the page, I read an excerpt from a letter by Umberto Eco: "The Internet... which you must use not only to communicate with your friends, but also to enter into dialogue with world history." Without having read this passage in 2018, I think that's what I did. I entered into dialogue with world history, discovering the richness and depth of meaning. Was there a secret to "success"? Maybe, maybe not. What is certain is that my success lay in the fact that I put pieces of my soul into what I posted along the way and conveyed not just what could be seen by the naked eye, but what was beyond information. Emotion. I think I became a voice for those who didn't have it or couldn't bring it out thinking they might be judged. Social media gives you the opportunity to create your own hashtag, to build your own voice, which is the essence of your message that others can join. That's how it all started for me. The hashtag #storyperisher built me a voice. A voice that today is followed by over 140 thousand people. Sounds incredible, doesn't it? Especially when I go back in time and review my first posts. Just look … 12 likes... plus one of mine 😊. Which I honestly tell you I was overjoyed for.
To the motto of the project, "To love the historical past is to learn from its mistakes, but as most persist in their mistakes, few know how to love", has been added this mission, "Encouraging each other to remember".
