2014-02-24 To La.

2014-02-24

Hello La.,

I know you live in Leuven and I know face-to-face, oral communication, it’s invaluable. Still, I wish we could write to each other quite frequently. Of course, the social and emotional nature of our relationship will be maintained face-to-face but debating more purely intellectual content with you in writing can be very fruitful for both of us. I think it will be useful to clarify some of the ideas that we have put forward in recent days.

There is a possibility that you may not have time to write. I understand that writing is patience and not rush, so I don’t mind if your response is delayed if the quality deserves it. New technologies are in a hurry. Haste produces mistakes and stumbles. With what, ironically, in the long term, cause waste of time. On the other hand, I consider that by using writing continuously, cognitive processes are streamlined, and time ends up being gained.

For this reason, I sincerely ask you to dedicate a part of your day and your time to disconnect the distant-communication devices of your room, mainly mobile phone and computer. Then, you can write without interruption and concentration, by hand and from memory. Without data or unnecessary references at the time of the original creation of written thought.

The first question I would like to ask you is (assuming your extensive knowledge of, among other things, linguistics) whether you could expose to me the most important differences between the written word and the spoken one. In order not to overflow us with the size of such a question, which I suppose has originated countless books throughout history, I ask that you please do not exceed 2 or 3 pages. For you and for me. Try to condense everything that reflection allows you. To encourage your intrinsic motivation, you can take it as a great summary of everything you have learned so far related to this topic.

I hope to receive your reply soon.

A warm (and not intellectual) hug,

Carlos

P.S. If you want, you can take the opportunity to correct grammar, spelling and punctuation errors, among others.