Noel Treccani online vocabulary a new lemma has been officially accepted: “smombie sf and m. inv. Who walks down the street without looking up from their smartphone, risking tripping, colliding with other people, crossing the road in a dangerous way”. This neologism is not so new: I had already read about it in the Italian press in 2016 but it had been coined in Germany in 2008 and elected word of the year 2015 for youth language by the German dictionary published by Langenscheidt.
Who are the smobies
The neologism, made up of “smartphone” and “zombie” had intrigued me because “zombie”, beyond what we know about the belief in the living dead of Antillean voodoo rites, for many of us it assumed by extension the meaning of individual in one disturbing physical and mental state, of extreme decay, bewildered, apathetic, dazed. It seemed to me a bit excessive to give zombies to the many – myself included, albeit very rarely – who roam the streets, on foot, by bike, by scooter, by motorbike, by car with their eyes and ears glued to their cell phones.
Phenomenology of smobies
Sometimes, connected with their “remote” interlocutors, they are not interested in those who are “in presence”, they talk aloud about work and much more, they even argue furiously or exchange effusions or even salacious comments, as if they were alone on a beach deserted.
The definition, seems to emphasize above all the danger that smombies cause to themselves and to others, immersed as they are in their smartphone contacts. Certainly the danger exists and accidents are the order of the day when walking or crossing the road without paying attention to the traffic, not to mention irresponsible behavior when driving vehicles of various kinds.
Reality beyond the smartphone
I remember that six years ago I noted this passage (the italics are mine) from a fine article by Annalena Benini (Il Foglio. 23 February 2016): I remember that six years ago I noted this passage (the italics are mine) by a nice article by Annalena Benini (The paper. February 23, 2016): “[Gli smombie] walking typers, unaware of the world around themhexes of motorists and cyclists, dangerous and wandering the busy streets, rush hour, subway, on and off buses without ever looking at the roadwithout noticing the muggers, without concern for one’s own life and that of others.
They walk wrapped in a thin mistbump into elderly people, pushchairs, stamp their feet and trip over the steps, go out for a second from the soft trance state and they say: sorry, but immediately they lower their heads, start moving their fingers again, phone sleepwalkers, vaguely annoyed by the collision with reality. [In alcuni Paesi sono state create corsie apposite per loro] where they can continue to float serenely, with this bewildered look, without irritating the others, those who still walk with the sun on their foreheads and their heads held high, those of the old world […]they the outdated human beings, stubbornly glued to the earth, [che] they complain about this invasion of men and women with their heads down, their movements slowed down, who get lost in the roundabouts, who raise their eyes with an astonished movement only when there is no signal, and then they wave their arms, seeking the comfort of others passers-by, ask if by chance there was a blackout and blame the mayor”.
That detached smile is something else
But what does all this have to do with the “Mona Lisa” with headphones (headphones, if you prefer) above the title of these Notes? And above all, why bother Leonardo?
Because smombies are the furthest thing from the way the great artist and scientist conceived his own move around the world of which he tried not to lose any detail and nuance. They had been able to imagine man flying or sailing under the surface of the sea but had not come to foresee the transformation of man into smombie. His imagination didn’t think it was possible devise anything without starting from a careful observation of realityalways keeping all our senses attentive and alert.
Perhaps some readers will remember that in the eighth installment of these notes I quoted a passage from Leonardo’s Treatise on Painting (Second part, 135. Of the selection of the air that gives grace to the faces): “Among things are insensible shadows of darkness and figures […]. Things seen between the light and the shadows will prove to be of greater importance than those which are in the light or in the shadows.” And again: “Remember the faces of men and women in the streets at nightfall when the weather is bad, how much grace and sweetness you see in them […] and this is perfect air.”
Being in the world
Leonardo is “the master of faces, anatomies, machines. He knows how a smile is born; and he can place it on the facade of a house, or in the meanders of a garden. He dishevels and curls the filaments of the waters, the tongues of fire. He makes a Christ, an angel, a monster, by taking what is known and found everywhere, and putting it into a new order.’ Such for Valéry, the figure of Leonardo as an artist. But for Valéry, Leonardo is also a figure of reflected consciousness, understood as “the center of gravity around which the system of the world is organized: the world of nature, of objects, of sensations, of thoughts, of abstractions, of stimuli”. Thus, Stefano Agosti in the essay accompanying his translation of these two writings by Paul Valéry on Leonardo, dated 1894 and 1919 respectively (Paul Valéry, Introduction to the method of Leonardo da Vinci. Note and digression, Milan, Abscondita, 2007).
The artist, the scientist, the innovator in every field or simply the curious about life, carefully observes what happens inside and outside of him or her and sees in advance, fantasizes, imagines, dreams. It discovers and designs what escapes those who live in isolation from themselves, from others and from the world.
Previous hindsight, the new book by Fulvio Scaparro
The new book by Fulvio Scaparro: Il Senno di prima, Salani editore
It’s not about the collection of notes I sent you from the end of 2021, even though I partially used some of them in the book. Upon arrival in our world, the newborn is not a blank slate as it is often described. It is the last specimen of a species that has lived on Earth for at least 200,000 years. The urgency to adapt the newcomer to the world that welcomes him in a very short time is understandable but not without negative consequences. Hence the reference to the title of the book (hindsight before, Salani editor) not to neglect both the experience of the species and that which we have matured in the course of our existence starting from the years of childhood and to rediscover what we knew but have forgotten, distracted, as we are, by the ups and downs of our existence. If you want to read it, your opinion will be useful and welcome as always.
What is GeA Association, Parents Again
Fulvio Scaparropsychologist and psychotherapist, is the founder of theGeA Associationfor 30 years committed to supporting couples in crisis through family mediation.
«In 1987, when we founded the GeA Parents Association, we began to work on a project full of utopia: deal with conflicts, especially family conflicts, not only as destructive events but also as opportunities for growth and transformation of relationships. Help parents in separation to regain trust, hope, understanding and mutual recognition. Spread a mediation culture from which results of great utility can derive, not only for individuals but for the entire community in terms of reconciliation of social relations and trust in personal and community resources.
Over the years we have found many traveling companions endowed with courage, optimism, profound awareness that, in school as in the family, in companies as in institutions, there is an increasing need for mediators who help the parties to negotiate, to look further than a possible immediate victory, to seek alternative solutions to the head-on collision.
Above all, a long and fruitful journey of practice and reflection has been made not only on how, when, in which areas to mediate, but also and above all why it is worthwhile to mediate».
Read all of Fulvio Scaparro’s articles on iO Donna here.
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