“Cultural noise,” “language pollution,” “informational garbage” — these concepts have firmly entered the lexicon of ecologists, but not those who save forests, but those who save our minds. The ecology of culture and language is the ability to filter what we absorb. As in nature: if you don't clean up the garbage, it will suffocate all living things. So in culture: if you don't clean the language and cherish traditions, we will turn into a “clip man,” devoid of roots. What is the ecology of language The ecology of language is the care for the purity of speech. To get rid of filler words (“sort of,” “kind of,” “like”), of unjustified borrowings (“creepy,” “hater,” “info gypsy”), of slang replacing normal Russian. When a person says “low bow” instead of “respect,” he is not a conservative, he is healing his language. Language pollution leads to the pollution of thought. A person who cannot express a complex emotion in his native language becomes spiritually poor. Cultural garbage: what we consume One-off series, squabble shows, endless life hacks, news where facts are mixed with opinions, toxic communities. This is cultural fast food. It gives quick satisfaction (laughter, anger, schadenfreude) and emptiness afterwards. Cultural ecology teaches to choose: read good literature, watch authorial cinema, listen to meaningful music, visit museums. Not because “it's necessary,” but because they are vitamins for the mind. Without them, the sense of beauty will atrophy. Everyday rituals as cultural ecology Singing a lullaby before bedtime, having a tea party without a TV, discussing a book read, recounting a dream at breakfast — all this is ecological practice. They create that very “cultural environment” in which a child learns to feel, think, empathize. If you replace them with “swipe on the tablet,” then culture will die. Not at the level of high art, but at the level of simple human communication. The Internet as a dump or as a garden Social networks can be a ... Read more