Discussion Post for April 3rd

Ong tell us that writing is inhuman.  There is a disconnect between the spoken word and the written word.  We cannot visualize a thing without at some point thinking of the written form of the thing.  Cultures that are oral communicators only, do not have that issue. Ong highlights many other points from Plato as well such as “writing destroys memory. Those who use writing will become forgetful, relying on an external source for what they lack in internal resources” (Ong 21). A calculator is an example of this.  Based on this excerpt, I am confused at the overall point.  Seemingly many negatives are highlighted for the use of technology and writing, especially with the Plato examples.  However, Ong then points out that Plato was in fact using writing (this horrid thing) to broadcast his critiques of writing itself.  And, we wouldn’t know of his critique today without the existence of writing. Ong then says, “To say writing is artificial is not to condemn it but to praise it” (23).  I think he is saying that writing is a tool.  It perhaps weakens the mind, but it strengthens the depth and reach of information, opinions and lore.

Literacy certainly changes with technology.  Technology is an amazing tool for acquiring and transmitting facts and information more quickly and efficiently than ever. However, retaining of the information learned is no longer a necessity because it is always available at our fingertips, whether it is a mathematical problem that needs solved and I grab my calculator, or if I need to know the answer to seemingly any question, I can always just “Google it”.