Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word

“Perspectives on the shift from oral culture to literate culture. Fascinating philosophical and historical approach to thinking about how the technology of words (an alphabet in this case) alters what can be done with those words. I found it full of fascinating ideas about the shape of the future to come with computers approximating human conversation.”

“I LOVE READING. I LOVE WORDS AND WRITING. HOWEVER, THE SHIFT FROM ORALITY TO WRITTEN TECH (AND IT IS TECH) TRANSFORMED CONSCIOUSNESS FROM COMMUNAL WISDOM (DARE I SAY FEM WISDOM) TO INDIVIDUATION AND ABSTRACT SELF CONSCIOUS UNDERSTANDING. I’D SAY YOU NEED BALANCE OF BOTH BUT THE FORMER IS GREATLY MISSING. IN PLATO’S PHAEDRUS, WHICH ONG CITES: WRITING OFFERS ONLY THE APPEARANCE OF WISDOM, NOT "TRUE WISDOM".”