The (no longer sufficient) principle of relevance

Photo: Stefania Lucchetti

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“It is a great tragedy to find yourself in a world where everything has been said, done, explored, exhibited.”

Extract from “Mystery and meaning” Coffee Stains on My Books, 2024.

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When Relevance Is No Longer Enough — Reflections on a Changing Principle

In 2010, I published The Principle of Relevance, a book that, looking back now, I recognize as certainly somewhat pedantic and limited — but also surprisingly visionary for its historical moment (the iPhone had just been released in 2010). I was writing at a time when information had just begun to flow unchecked, and the central question was no longer “how to access knowledge” but rather “what is truly worthy of our attention?”

 

The book was quite successful in Hong Kong, where I published it, it received considerable media coverage, both in Hong Kong and Italy, and was also translated and distributed by a Chinese publisher in Chinese language. I still find it referenced in videos and lectures on Big Data — for example: > Big Data. I never attempted to publish it in Italy; at the time, I was far too removed from Europe, both geographically and professionally.

The Principle of Relevance began with a simple intuition: our ability to choose what we pay attention to defines who we are. The book offered tools, mind maps, and a true “cognitive gym” to train the mind to recognize what is relevant in a sea of data and stimuli. It was an ambitious attempt to provide a method for navigating informational chaos with awareness at a time when Relevance Theory still seemed to rest on a shared foundation.

Relevance Theory, developed in the 1980s by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson, is based on a fascinating assumption: every act of communication carries an implicit promise of usefulness. A message is worthy of attention precisely because it has been communicated. In other words, if someone says something, they do so because they believe it’s worth hearing; and the listener automatically assumes it is relevant.
This theory revolutionized communication studies, shifting the focus from the form of the message to its cognitive impact.

In today’s hyper-connected world, however, where millions of people communicate simultaneously every day, that implicit promise no longer holds. That assumption, which for decades shaped our understanding of communication, now seems outdated, even absurd. In online communication especially, this “presumption of relevance” has collapsed. Communication is no longer driven by a search for meaning, but by a fight for attention.

The basic principle – “if I say it, it must be important” – is no longer enough to ensure that we are heard.

In my book, I wrote:

“The information age is, essentially, the era in which those who know how to work with knowledge gain a competitive edge.”
(The Principle of Relevance, Stefania Lucchetti, 2010)

Today, I ask myself what has changed: if the idea that something is worth listening to simply because someone has decided to say it no longer stands, then the implicit relevance of a message can no longer be taken for granted. On one hand, this means that relevance must now be earned; on the other, each of us must learn to protect ourselves and to filter the communications we are exposed to — even before we begin to engage with them.
And that, clearly, changes everything.

Perhaps, then, the “principle of relevance” must be completely reimagined. If expressing oneself is no longer enough to be relevant, if we can no longer leave it up to others to make sense of what we say, then we must actively embrace a principle of relevance in our communication.
We must cultivate the quality of thought, the depth of the message, the clarity of purpose.

In 2010, I was trying to offer tools to help people think more effectively. Today, I feel the urgency to ask:

Can we still afford to communicate without thinking about the implications of what we say?

And can we afford to listen without filtering first?

To read more on the concept of cyberspace: > Cyberspace: a new social, political and psychological forntier

 

Newsletter:

 
Two books that will be published this year (titles remain a secret for now!). The books will be part of the Gli Speciali series by Albatros, which has previously featured authors of great caliber. Both books will include all poems in dual language. Stay tuned!
 

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