Oral, written, and printed knowledge all have an element of divisiveness to them. You must know someone else’s language in order to communicate effectively with them and those who can’t read or write are unable to use books to gain knowledge. If you are a professor whose articles have been published, you are held in higher regard than a professor who has not. Folk knowledge seems like it would represent an easily entered community, one that does not require a skill that is difficult to learn. However, knowledge that one person possesses and another does not is divisive in nature. Although folk knowledge can create a small community of people who share a certain type of knowledge or skill, the passing down of specific kinds of folk knowledge deters the existence of a large, open community. One must have a specific skill to be a part of it.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Decadence vs. Economy: How Focus Changes Knowledge Intake (Final Exam Part Two)
History is made up of cycles. Just as we have Romantic and Classical periods in art, music, and science, we also have such revolutions in language. Chinese characters are a great example of this:
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