25/09/07

Philosphy in a can

Have you noticed that the new Coca-Cola cans report funny informations like "0 % sodium"? Why should they underline what is NOT in what I'm drinking? And why they don't inform me of the fact that there is "0 % bat blood" in my drink? Isn't that incoherent?

Of course there is a big difference between underlying the absence of something (like "not-x") or its pure absence. It has something to do with attention control, and with the possibility for the language to make appear something absent that could be there (and is there in some respect).
To make someone perceive the absence of something a pure empty space is not enough, you need something that makes appear the absence through its negation (which can also be the knowledge of the fact that something was there).
It is like putting on black glasses to show that you want to hide the fact you cried (Barthes).

I won't go deeper in the subject, unless there are comments, a can doesn't deserve the effort.

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