The Final Paper.
Can you believe it? We finally got to the end. Oh, but
remember—it’s never really the end because it’s all about the process. And the
process never ends. =]
Because we are on the brink of the digital knowledge
revolution, I was interested in the transition between each of these types of
knowledge. This idea in combination with the discussions we had today in class
prompted me to write this subsequent essay. Enjoy.
Knowledge from antiquity to modern times has been a slave to
the institutions and mediums of each era. As folk knowledge, oral knowledge,
written knowledge, print knowledge, and now digital knowledge have
revolutionized the development and dissemination of information, there have
been dynamic changes altering the very fabric of society. Although each new medium of knowledge
brings unalterable change, societies never truly abandon past mediums of
knowledge because of their necessity and utility.
New mediums of knowledge did enact great changes upon
societies. As seen with religion, written scripture profoundly changed the way
religion was practiced. Then when print was available, the dissemination of the
Bible again altered institutions of religion. However, these innovations did
not eliminate the need for elements of previous mediums.
Even though modern societies are not strictly oral like
their predecessors of old, there are many remnants of oral cultures found after
the transition to pre-dominantly written societies. Religion remained a very
important institution, and so in the oral culture, various ceremonies and
rituals played a prominent role. Once written languages developed and after the
initial skepticism of the medium passed, many religions caused sacred text to
be recorded, creating a consistent and canonized scripture. This added a new
dimension to religious observance, but the rituals and oral ceremonies
remained. As seen in Rachel Olson’s blog
post about the fear of writing for the Brahmins of ancient India, the Vedas
were written down, but the ceremonies remained to be a prominent part of the culture.
These rituals were maintained out of necessity because they could not be
written down, and so written knowledge could not replace the experience of the
oral tradition.
The print revolution, started by Gutenberg with the printing
press, again seriously altered the way information was understood and
circulated, but remnants from written culture survived. At first, printed books
still had illuminations and rubrications like the written manuscripts before.
Even when this went away, the art of written knowledge never did. In the book Reinventing Knowledge, the chapter
entitled “The Republic of Letters” explains the history of writing letters
before, during, and after the printing revolution took place. Although the
printing press was crucial to the wide dissemination of knowledge, it was not
suited to the personal, private use like the medium of writing before it. There
was still a necessity for writing, and so it continued to be an integral part
of society.
Even today, as the digital revolution is again changing the
way people digest and receive knowledge, the need for print has not been
completely done away with. The invention of eBooks on such devices as Kindles
or Nooks has caused a revolution in the way people can read books, but printed
books allow for the ability to scan and browse a book in the way that a digital
eBook cannot. This utility can never be
replaced by digital versions, and so there will always be a need for
printed books, bookstores, and libraries.
With each new revolution in the way people experience
information and knowledge, society adapts and adopts these new methods. The
useful and irreplaceable components of each medium remain while the new medium only
helps to improve and build upon the foundations of past mediums. These new
methods may revolutionize the transmission and content of knowledge and eclipse
older institutions, but there is never a complete abandonment of older mediums
of knowledge.
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