Sharing Ambiguities

Feel free to pick your signifiers from a multitude of accidental participants. They are likely to become the colorful mixture of receivers which compensates for the by Marquard described “compulsions to unity, absolute universalization, modern uniformities, streamlining, and for the harsh compulsion to uniqueness to which we are all subject because we have only one, unique life.”

Obviously that is not the end, but through the creation of such “designs/communication products” you will be able to escape that. Sharing is Caring. Sharing is pluralising. Sharing is belonging. Incorporate the biggest possible number of determinants into this communal act of sharing your observations with the people around you. For Marquard, K-Hole and Bürger potentially this is “participatory design in the true sense; everyone can contribute to the discussion.”

This includes that the fatefully accidental pieces, from which your observations stem, need to be noticed. And you will benefit from the moment when the extremes of what you usually notice, grow. What terms like Fitback, Normcore or ASMR constitute is eventually that awareness for what usually goes unnoticed. They stimulate a (mis)understanding, a mode for observation, a sensibilization which needs close looking, reading or hearing—naturally coming before taking any position.

It was a dark and stormy night

Potentially such modes help, communication which verbally, visually or sensually might evoke „extreme reactions“ like laughing and crying. For Marquard these reactions are the intimate acceptance of what remained, officially, excluded from consideration, but is, unofficially, part of the story.

A readiness to laugh and a readiness to cry—that is, humor and melancholy—are concrete forms taken by tolerance and compassion.

Which is to say potentially the moment to talk about what remained excluded from consideration in this story. As someone who can laugh and cry you remain free. At this very moment you could cry about the fact that no one presented any positions against the ones which have (not) been presented and have thus been excluded from this text. Yes also now, you could do better than that. Or you take a moment to rest, remember that of course also this is not the absolute end. At this very moment you could laugh about the fact that there is still more to come.