Monday, August 10, 2009
Written Word Rules?
In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman writes about how the written word is more valuable than the oral. “The written endures, the spoken word disappears; and that is why writing is closer to the truth than speaking.” (21) With this way of thinking just because the written word can be saved it makes it truth. He then goes on to prove his point about how it is not enough to just have the oral approval of something because no one would believe you. You must have the written proof for it to be legitimate. Is this what out society has done? Can we no longer rely on the honest truth spoken orally or do we need “proof” that is written down to make if official? As i think about it i see less and less oral talking and more and more written communication. I've noticed people rather than making a simple phone call that would take minutes people would rather not pick up the phone and text message, e-mail, or aim you the information. Though we still talk face to face it seems people would rather take the less direct option. I know I'm guilty of this too, but somethings shouldn't be communicated over texting or e-mail. Will this lack of oral communication have an effect on these people?
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I was thinking the exact same thing when I read about this too, Cameron.
ReplyDeleteSociety is what controls our minds.
For example, If society only shows us pink birds all of our life, and we see a black one, we'd be confused. Something would be wrong, and we choose to not accept that the bird can actually be black. To put it simply, society has made us not trust the spoken word, because in spoken word, one can sense doubt, and other feelings that can make it sound untrue.
People can't sense anything from words written on paper, because when reading, everyone feels the words differently.
You are right when saying "some things should be communicated over texting or e-mail."
But in this age, it is so easy to.
Just type and send, and you won't have to deal with reaction.
As a society, lack of oral communication has indeed affected us.
I agree completely. But what are we doing "write" now. When we should be discussing this face to face, we now type and blog about these books. I believe the only things that should be written to a specific audience are annoncements. This is because it only needs a one way message to work, everything else could and should have a rebuttal.
ReplyDeleteThat same exact question also hit me when I was reading. It's true
ReplyDeletethat only some things can be communicated without oral communication.
Txting is especially used these days. Yet I would rather prefer oral
communication because txting or e-mail won't give us the emotions or
feelings we would get if we were talking in person.
Although as we see that technology is coming more and more into our
ReplyDeletelives everyday I highly doubt oral communication will improve. I agree
that it has affected us greatly.
Unfortunately, the transition from oral word, since the beginning of time, to the written, has been an overlooked way of communication. The less usage of oral word can ultimately result in the loss of that language. It also leads to development of poor social skills. As much as i enjoy txting, communicating orally is a much better way.
ReplyDelete