The bold yet very persuasive statement made by Walter Ong as quoted in “Old Media, New Media, and Knowledge” by J. D. Applen that, “writing has transformed human consciousness” is quite persuasive. When consciousness encompasses our ability to remember, analyse and reflect upon then writing is not an instrument of communication. Instead, it is a technology of mind, which reforms the mind. When we talk of the information age, we tend to pride ourselves on it being a revolution, but Ong tells us that the first real revolution of information took place when humans learned to write.
Fiction is the making thought outside. Ideas that have been captured on a piece of paper can be explored, debated and rearranged. This capacity to apprehend language enables a person to think abstractly, reason intricately and scrutinize oneself. In the oral culture, information should be repeated in order to live. In literacy, information can be preserved, re-read and developed. Plato was worried that writing would destroy memory but it actually emancipated the mind to think more.
The Social Construction of Language
An interesting piece of evidence of the development of language is the way in which such verbs as Google were born because of the cultural usage. Slang comes as written writing and speech restructures itself as written language. In contrast to computer code which is logically constructed, natural human language is social and organic.
Considering my personal experience in learning, I can observe that the physical skills can best be taught by imitation, and the reading enhances the analytical thinking. Writing enables me to pace, rethink and clarify thoughts in some manner not achievable by conversational means. But the word of mouth brings those thoughts into focus with questioning and elucidation.
Old Media and New Media as Partners
Finally, writing cannot substitute speech; it makes it different. Old media and new media are not the opponents. They are the collaborators in the way we have to think, talk and perceive the surrounding world.
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