Blog #2: The Language of a World

Throughout the history of civilization people have found many forms of media. At first it was mainly used as a simple way of identification and book keeping for things like proof of property (Crowley, 38). One of the biggest breakthroughs media and subsequently communication was the alphabet and written language. With written language people were able to write down ideas, information, and news it allowed for these things to then travel from one place to another, and for anyone to learn from them. Information which formerly needed to be passed down from teacher to student through speech over many decades would no doubt lose some substance after the ninth or tenth iteration, however written words would never change so information could be preserved in whole for centuries.

Although for all of the benefits to society that we could come up with, there are just as many negatives. Before the alphabet came about most written communication was in the form of hieroglyphs which were hard to write and took up much space, the alphabet solved this problem although it made many of its own problems. Hieroglyphs were easy to read, if you wanted to say "bird" you simply drew an outline of a bird, but the alphabet had to be taught and learned. Learning to read a write would mean that you were able to learn anything that had been written. This was also looked at as negative by some. Socrates believed that writing was a type of crutch for people to use instead of using their minds to remember information and also for people to simply read and memories facts without having a full understanding of the concepts, basically appearing smart (Crowley, 36). Socrates idea is interesting because I feel like many college classes work that way, you are expected to memorize information from a text, but not required to think critically about it or understand its origins.

The impact of written language on society was also very great, especially for kings and nobles. Letters and posters could be sent to all corners of a state to inform its people who its owner was and what rules its residence must abide. Writing allowed for areas to be controlled that were much greater than before, a kings word could spread much further than he could see or speak and his words would live on even after his death (Crowley, 37). This same idea has always been available to untruthful people in the form of propaganda. This can be seen during World War II in many countries but especially Germany, where Hitler would spread the word or victory, even when defeat was obvious. Even 400 years ago propaganda was being spread by Hammurabi of Babylon who called himself "mighty King, King of Babylon, King of the whole country of Amurru, King of Sumer and Akkad, King of the Four Quarters of the World" (Crowley, 37).

To me Written language had been extremely important and has evolved to be a part of nearly all aspects of society. Some people, like Susan Jacoby, will complain that reading is much less a part of our lives today than it was many years ago. I however see language everywhere I look. When watching television I am reading hundreds of words that are shown on the screen. Even playing video games, which many people feel is the furthest thing from a literary activity, I am reading thousands of lines of text which could rival most novels on book store shelves. Language is everywhere, and I think it is obvious to see how important it is to society.

Works Cited:
Crowley, David. Heyer, Paul. Communication in history-Technology, Culture, Society. Pearson Education, Inc. 2007

Gardner, Howard. “The End of Literacy? Don’t Stop Reading.” WashintongPost.com. The Washington Post Company. 17 Feb. 2008. Web. 21 Sept. 2008. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/15/AR2008021502898.html

Jacoby, Susan. “The Dumbing of America.” WashingtonPost.com. The Washington Post Company. 17 Feb. 2008. Web. 20 Sept. 2008. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/15/AR2008021502901.html