As I was reading Amusing Ourselves to Death, I came across a passage on page 21 about the written word. Postman made me realize that - without writing - ideas, stories, and even history may be different to us today. He expresses this by saying, "You are mistaken in believing that the form in which an idea is conveyed is irrelevant to its truth." He goes on to say that the spoken word is seen to be a "casual utterance" rather than authentic truth.
This, to me, is very important. Without a written language, history could be rewritten. It may be difficult, but not impossible. It is commonly said that history is written by the victors. Retelling stories over the years can easily turn into interpreting what one believed to have happened or to be true. With writing, it is easier to verify or refute the truth. "The written word endures, the spoken word disappears; and that is why writing is closer to the truth than speaking."
I agree with what you're saying when you say that written word allows for information to be conveyed and verified easier, but at the same time, the written word can easily be tampered with, causing inaccuracies in the text. "History is written by the victors," that means the text could be skewed and biased to their side, which would leave out important information.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't believe the spoken word should just be seen as a "casual utterance." The spoken word allows for not only information to be passed on, but also emotions and feelings to be conveyed. The written word is not able to do that as effectively.
Whoa, Ken. Many people are not good speakers, and many people are terrific writers. There's not one way of communication that conveys emotion, and another way that conveys information or logical content, is there?
DeleteI agree with both the post and comment above. Written language is permanent, tangible proof that something happened which can be easier to verify than spoken language which disappears once it is said. Games like the telephone game prove that spoken ideas can be changed due to the persons beliefs on what was said than what was actually said which is revealed at the end of the game. Yes spoken word has an impact as well, but only in that present moment. Written word is for the future and documentation. Written word can also convey emotions using adjectives and tone.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in the matter of proving historical events, written word can be tampered with but that is why we use more than written documents. We take in account of the point of view of the author(s) of the document, pictures, and also artifacts. Studying the geography of a place will also convey information of what happened.
I agree a written language brings a truth to many things, it brings justice to arguements and confirms many situations such as historical events. Without anyform of written language history would not be a subject we learn today, people could just say goats fell from the sky 3,000 years ago and no one would be able to disprove that because there is no written word disproving the event.
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