Recently in my Media Studies class we have discussed various views on whether or not our society has improved, based on the advances of communication. From our analysis of other articles and points of view, society has improved according to some critics but others suggest that we are lacking some key components, this occurring as we progress to the next stage of technology. I personally believe that our society today has shifted from a print based society to an oral and visual one due to the amount of technological advances we now have access to today.
Back in 700 B.C Greek letters paved the way for what we now know today as the alphabet. This new development not only organized the way we thought, but also the way we communicated since the alphabets main intent was for human conversation. According to Eric Havelock, author of the essay, "The Greek Legacy, “the alphabet encouraged the production of unfamiliar statement, stimulating the thinking of novel thought” (p.40). Havelock also explains in his essay that “books and documentation multiplied in the Hellenistic and Roman periods” (p.43). From this assertion alone, one can conclude that as people became more equipped with how to write and use the alphabet, there was a high demand for books (which included writings), and documentation (people now having the ability to write). Today however, there is no longer a high demand for books and documentation since we now have access to other forms of communication such as laptops where we can easily send an email in an instant, rather than wait a couple days to receive something on paper.
As communication techniques began to increase, the concept of living in an oral society became the center of attention in reference to Walter Ongs essay, "Orality, Literacy, and Modern Media". Living in a primary orality culture meant that everything was done verbally and things depended on sound. This particular culture had no previous knowledge of writing; therefore they did not honor it. The importance of sound allowed people to connect with one another since sound alone can capture anyone’s attention, whether it’s a child screaming in the middle of the mall or a teacher clapping to get a student’s attention, we all seem to instantaneously look at where the sound is coming from. Story telling became popular during this primary stage, along with using mnemonic devices as an organizational approach to improving memory, It wasn’t long after that, that a secondary oral culture came into play which included an introduction to radio and television. This new society was based on "writing and print, which were essential for the manufacturing and operation of equipment" (p. 54), two things that were missing from the previous oral culture. Even with the emphasis on writing in the new culture we still advanced, which is why radio was created that dealt with sound and listening, as well as the television. Sound itself catches attention, so it makes sense for these new technologies to arise so as to broaden our horizons and keep our interests rather than it coming from printed forms.
In the Washington post essay, “The End of Literacy”, Howard Gardner suggests that our society is approaching “Doomsday”, thanks to the technological takeover. In return, adults are reading less which takes them away from entering, “fascinating worlds we could only imagine”. During the earlier centuries, books played a vital role in shaping our society which allowed us to expand our minds and enhance our creativity. Gardner also declares that this, “threatening shift” in society, comes from the need to remain in constant communication with other people. But is it really a bad thing to remain in constant communication with each other? I think not, as a matter of fact it helps us become more aware of our society and what it has to offer in terms of technology. If we have the ability to communicate via phone, email, text message, or radio then why not use it to our advantage? Instead of being focused on one thing, we can now be considered as multi-taskers with all that there is to offer.
The last article from the Washington post entitled the, “Dumbing of America”, by Susan Jacoby argues that Americans are” losing their intellect”, and “suffering from ignorance”. She blames the shift from a print society to a visual one as the burden, along with the lack of willingness to obtain knowledgeable information. Another supporting evidence to her claim includes the sudden decline in book reading and the increase in using media devices as technology increases. Jacoby concludes by saying that there is no “quick cure for being an anti-rationalist and an anti-intellectual society”. I beg to differ on this essay only because having a decline in book purchases doesn’t mean that we are becoming “dumber”, but rather we are finding other ways to gain information and get educated. There are countless educational shows, eBooks, and language cassette tapes that allow us to become more knowledge of certain things we wish to learn, it goes to show you that reading isn’t the only way to acquire knowledge. Besides, if you were in a rush, would you really want to sit down and read a newspaper which takes up time, or would you rather watch the news which includes one voice at a time, and where there isn’t a bunch of ads being thrown at you at once?
Teachers and professors both are proving that this new society isn’t hindering our brains because they use it to their benefits by using things like YOUTUBE to display certain topics of discussion among other things in class. Every class that I took last year minus my math course, always included a clip from YOUTUBE to further or knowledge, and actually by watching these clips it helped improve my biology grade to a high “B”. It would be a surprise if teachers and professors soon will become dependent on YOUTUBE in the future showing that there are positives to this oral and visual society.
In any sense, the value of print will never be disregarded because if it wasn’t for the print society we wouldn’t be where we are today, since everything builds off of everything else. It is evident that we do live a predominantly oral and visual culture, yet we still incorporate literacy in things that we do .
Referenced from:
Gardner, Howard. "End of Literacy:Dont Stop Reading." Washington Post (2008): n. pg. Web. 3 Oct 2010. <>. (Web article)
Havelock Eric, “The Greek Legacy", Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, 6th edition. Boston. Pearson, 2010.
Jacoby , Susan. "Dumbing of America." Washington Post (2008): n. pag. Web. 3 Oct 2010. <> (web article)
Ong Walter, " Orality, Literacy and Modern Media",Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, 6th edition. Boston. Pearson, 2010.
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