When I think about the word “digital”, I always think of computers and electronic technology. However, Doug Eyman’s article “Digital Rhetoric” delivers a reinterpretation of the term and makes us rethink its true meaning. We are in the “digital age” in which everything is computerized. People connect “digital” to things with a screen. Digital media classes in schools are all about using computers t create things for the Web which other people will see on computers. It’s no wonder why we commonly associate digital and computers. With the massive influence of the internet in our lives, this word has taken a whole new meaning and its true definition has become lost.
What does Digital mean? How is it reinterpreted?
Eyman reminds us that digital is anything we create with our hands that helps us make sense of the world. It also goes hand in hand with the art of rhetoric, which is the art of speech and writing. I love writing creative fiction and now I realize that the act of writing, not even necessarily online, is digital. The physical books I read are digital even though they are nothing but ink on paper. Digital transcends beyond just what you see on a screen. It is everything humans create.
Digital makes us think modern and computerized, but an ancient Egyptian scroll of papyrus containing handwritten heiroglyphs is considered digital because it is a form of writing and communication. But terms and concepts such as “Digital Citizenship” promote the false belief that digital means online. But think about what digital truly means, it’s mind-blowing how the course of time alters things.
The word digital can refer to both computerized and the records of oral and printed information from throughout human history. Through a history perspective, it’s important to know that digital is not just computers; it’s refers to human writing, communication and rhetoric. Losing sight of that shows how computers have taken over life and would be a loss to world cultures.
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