The field of vision is comparable, for me, to the terrain of an archaeological dig. To see is to be on guard, to wait for what emerges from the background, without any name, without any particular interest: what was silent will speak, what is closed will open and will take on a voice.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of observation and awareness in uncovering deeper truths.
Paul Virilio's quote draws a parallel between observing one's surroundings and the meticulous process of an archaeological dig, suggesting that true understanding requires patience and vigilance. By attentively watching the world, we can reveal hidden aspects of life and meaning that may initially go unnoticed, transforming silence into voice and obscurity into insight.
In practice
Using this quote in a lecture about the importance of careful observation in art and science.
When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck; when you invent the plane you also invent the plane crash; and when you invent electricity, you invent electrocution...Every technology carries its own negativity, which is invented at the same time as technical progress.
I have spent a lot of my career working on normative political philosophy, developing the 'capabilities approach' to social justice. I have also spent a lot of my career working on the structure of the emotions, and their role in human life.
Whenever you hold a fellow creature in distress, remember that he is a man.
Do we really think that the United States will have the protection of innocent Afghans in mind if it rains terror down on the Afghan infrastructure? We are supposedly fighting them because they immorally killed innocent civilians. That made them evil. If we do the same, are we any less immoral?
One of the hardest challenges posed by the modern world is how to deal with abundance. It's even harder to confront because admitting that it's a problem seems spoiled.
This war proceeds along its terrible path by the slaughter of infantry...I say to myself every day. What is going on while we sit here, while we go away to dinner or home to bed? Nearly, 1000 - Englishmen, Britishers, and the other is America...Everything else is swept away.
My characters aren't losers. They're rebels. They win by their refusal to play by everyone else's rules.
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