The Word versus the Digit: how to preserve faith and love in the age of algorithms
How can faith, love and human dignity be preserved at a time when technology increasingly replaces meaning? These and many other questions were discussed at a new meeting of the Literary Club "What to Read?!" held at the National Centre RUSSIA on 13 December. The central focus of the discussion was the new novel by Margarita Simonyan, "In the Beginning Was the Word – in the End There Will Be the Digit".
"It is no secret that a large number of books are published in Russia today, including both fiction and non-fiction. At the same time, readers have become more discerning. Despite the abundance of temptations, the diversity of formats and the emergence of genres very different from those we are used to, genuine discoveries still emerge in this flow," said Alexei Chesnakov, Head of the Academic Council of the Centre for Political Conjuncture, Professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, and author of the Telegram channel "Chesnakov. Library".
Alexei Chesnakov described one such discovery as a book that "resonated vividly in the outgoing year" and is likely to remain among the leaders both in sales and in audience attention for some time. He was referring to Margarita Simonyan’s novel "In the Beginning Was the Word – in the End There Will Be the Digit".
"It is an interesting book, including in terms of its plot. As you read it, you grow closer to the characters. In my view, a book cannot truly be engaging if you do not sympathise with its characters or feel empathy for them. Margarita succeeded in 'drawing' her characters in such a way that they become close to you, that you begin to visualise them. Moreover, after finishing the book, you remain under its impression for some time and perceive these people as if they were real," shared Marina Akhmedova, Editor-in-Chief of Regnum News Agency, writer, journalist and member of the Human Rights Council.
Prose writer, poet and Editor-in-Chief of "Literaturnaya Gazeta" Maxim Zamshev highlighted three key features of Margarita Simonyan’s novel: its very long title, more reminiscent of a newspaper headline; the complexity of the text, which requires a certain level of preparation from the reader; and the sheer length of the work itself, which is unusual in an era dominated by short formats.
"The author very harshly and very clearly shows that the path of rational simplification of life – and after all, we are constantly simplifying life, expecting everything to help us: communication, paying with a smile, artificial intelligence that does everything for us, you say, 'Alice, play a song', and the song starts immediately – that this path leads to a very bad outcome. This is where the text shows remarkable courage. It is no coincidence that in the novel artificial intelligence is unable to reproduce proverbs – to me, this is a very important point deliberately embedded by the author. Ultimately, strength lies in irrationality. Irrationality is always connected with goodness and truth, because it is a matter of the heart and of faith. Rationality, by contrast, often becomes a convenient instrument in the hands of evil. And this colossal opposition between the forces of good and evil, expressed in a highly artistic way, compels the reader to move through the novel with bated breath," Maxim Zamshev concluded.
Marina Akhmedova, in turn, described the path of rational simplification of life as an "image of hell". According to her, the human mind usually operates with static clichés, which is why hell is often imagined as a place filled with bonfires, boiling cauldrons and devils cooking sinners.
"These metaphors are familiar; they have long been dormant in our consciousness, and when we realise that we are doing something wrong, they do not frighten us all that much. But when we read the scenes of hell in Margarita Simonyan’s book, we understand that this is Moscow, that these are our cities, places we know well, and that this is not some distant end of the world thousands of years from now, but a future that is literally standing on our doorstep. If we ourselves are unable to step into this future, our children may do so instead. Artificial intelligence, presented in the book as a universal evil, is already present in our lives," said the member of the Human Rights Council.
Marina Akhmedova also added that Margarita Simonyan’s book captures real human values with remarkable precision. According to her, everyone is familiar with the basic commandments and truths passed down through textbooks, books and parents. From time to time, however, humanity needs books that explain these values through contemporary circumstances and characters – people who are understandable here and now, rather than those who lived two or three thousand years ago, she stressed.
"In this way, values placed in conditions that are close and familiar to us come to life and begin to act within us. These 'sleeping clichés' awaken and start doing their work. In this sense, literature preserves values and passes them from generation to generation – and this is also present in the book," Marina Akhmedova said.
The Literary Club "What to Read?!" is an original project of the National Centre RUSSIA. It serves as a space for discussing literary heritage and exchanging ideas and experience. The meetings focus on an interest in thoughtful writing and the development of a reading culture. More information about upcoming meetings of the literary club and other educational projects can be found in the "Events" section on the official website of the National Centre RUSSIA at russia.ru.
