“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 heads. Cultural and language ecology 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 up the language and preserve traditions, we will turn into a “clip man” devoid of roots.What is language ecologyLanguage ecology is caring for the purity of speech. To get rid of parasitic words (“as if”, “kind of”, “in short”), unjustified borrowings (“creepy”, “hater”, “info gypsy”), slang replacing normal Russian. When a person says “low bow” instead of “respect”, he is not a conservative, he is healing his language. Pollution of the language leads to pollution of thought. A person who cannot express a complex emotion in his native language becomes spiritually poor.Cultural garbage: what we consumeOne-shot series, roasting shows, endless life hacks, news where facts are mixed with opinions, toxic communities. This is cultural fast food. It gives quick satiety (laughter, anger, schadenfreude) and emptiness after. Cultural ecology teaches to choose: read good literature, watch author’s cinema, listen to meaningful music, visit museums. Not because “it should be”, but because this is vitamins for the mind. Without them, the sense of beauty will atrophy.Everyday rituals as cultural ecologySinging a lullaby before bedtime, having a tea party without the TV, discussing a book read, retelling 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 we replace them with “swiping on a 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 a gardenSocial networks can be a territory of hatred, fake news, spam. But they can al ... Read more