Forget writing
In Plato's Phaedrus, Socrates tells of the legend of the god Theuth, the inventor of many things including writing. Theuth presents the virtues of his invention to King Thamus who challenges writing's virtue saying instead that "Those who acquire [this technique of writing] will cease to exercise their memory and become forgetful...your pupils will have the reputation for [wisdom] without the reality: they will receive a quantity of information without proper instruction, and in consequence be thought very knowledgeable when they are for the most part quite ignorant. And because they are filled with the conceit of wisdom instead of real wisdom they will be a burden to society."
We have no idea what it's like to live in a culture driven by oral communication, thus no basis for judging whether written communicators are more forgetful and ignorant than oral communicators. But 5,000 years after the advent of writing, a new technique now threatens to become primary: digital communication (yes, this).
Is that a bad thing?
Neil Postman, in his book Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, suggests the introduction of a new technique or technology creates an entirely new society. "Technological change is neither additive nor subtractive. It is ecological...if you remove the caterpillars from a given habitat, you have a new environment and you have reconstituted the conditions of survival."
"Because of its close and intimate relationship with culture, technology does not invite a close examination of its own consequences. It is the kind of friend that asks for trust and obedience, which most people are inclined to give because its gifts are truly bountiful..."
"The uncontrolled growth of technology destroys the vital sources of our humanity. It creates a culture without moral foundation. It undermines certain mental processes and social relations that make human life worth living."
Recent studies show that this prophecy is being fulfilled one text message at a time:
One report from China says 83% of kids report problems remembering how to write some Chinese characters. Some of the youth interviewed were quoted saying "When I can't remember, I will take out my cellphone and find it (the character) and then copy it down." "It's like you're forgetting your culture." In 2008, the Chinese sent 700 billion texts per year.
In the US, 50% of teens send more than 50 texts every day. Teen girls average 100 texts per day. Texting has now surpassed face-to-face contact as the primary way teens reach their friends.
One thing is clear: our unexamined adoption of digital communication is reconstituting the conditions of survival.
We have no idea what it's like to live in a culture driven by oral communication, thus no basis for judging whether written communicators are more forgetful and ignorant than oral communicators. But 5,000 years after the advent of writing, a new technique now threatens to become primary: digital communication (yes, this).
Is that a bad thing?
Neil Postman, in his book Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, suggests the introduction of a new technique or technology creates an entirely new society. "Technological change is neither additive nor subtractive. It is ecological...if you remove the caterpillars from a given habitat, you have a new environment and you have reconstituted the conditions of survival."
"Because of its close and intimate relationship with culture, technology does not invite a close examination of its own consequences. It is the kind of friend that asks for trust and obedience, which most people are inclined to give because its gifts are truly bountiful..."
"The uncontrolled growth of technology destroys the vital sources of our humanity. It creates a culture without moral foundation. It undermines certain mental processes and social relations that make human life worth living."
Recent studies show that this prophecy is being fulfilled one text message at a time:
One report from China says 83% of kids report problems remembering how to write some Chinese characters. Some of the youth interviewed were quoted saying "When I can't remember, I will take out my cellphone and find it (the character) and then copy it down." "It's like you're forgetting your culture." In 2008, the Chinese sent 700 billion texts per year.
In the US, 50% of teens send more than 50 texts every day. Teen girls average 100 texts per day. Texting has now surpassed face-to-face contact as the primary way teens reach their friends.
One thing is clear: our unexamined adoption of digital communication is reconstituting the conditions of survival.
posted by Matthew at 9:20 PM
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