The Roots of Communication
Humans and the way we communicated overtime has came such a long way. From the days when we couldn’t use spoken words to communicate, to when people passed stories orally from one generation to the next, J.D. Applen’s “Old Media, New Media, and Literacy” explores speech as one of the earliest, most natural forms of communication. Applen as the one of the most earliest to date, most natural, and easiest form of literacy. Each community had to rely on their memory and repetition in order to preserve their traditions, their values, and any information they wanted to retain. But, with oral communication came limitations. One example of this would be that once it has been spoken. The words that were communicated could possibly be forgotten, could be distorted, or could be lost. This being a main challenge for the people during this time era helped to create one of the best and the greatest innovations, writing. Writing helped to create those thoughts to live beyond just when they were spoken, and that gave the room to preserve knowledge with such precision, allowing for humans to expand their understandings.
Literacy in such an Evolving World
With the invention of writing, it transformed many societies. It helped to shape education completely, shaped people’s culture, and power structures. People are able to record their laws, document the history of the world, and better communicate across timelines. Literacy became an essential tool that helped to share knowledge, but to also influence the knowledge and to control it. Applen did note of the rise of “print technology” and further revolutionized this process. The written knowledge out there became more accessible to broader audiences, and help to encourage critical thinking. In today’s society, digital technology has helped to further push this evolution. With the internet, along with new media redefining what it means for someone to be “literate,” it now also forces people to navigate visual, textual, and interactive content.
The Future of Knowledge Sharing
So, people today are no longer just seeing literacy as just understanding how to read and write. People are able to interpret, engage, and to create and spread information across multiple platforms. As media continues to evolve and grow, so too must our understanding of communication. People continuing to take in all of the new forms of literacy, valuing and appreciating the roots of speech and writing. People can then continue to share the knowledge they have in such a richer and more powerful way.
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