How does technology shape language and communication? The biggest influence technology has on communication is by providing a way to broadcast ones ideas to ever increasing numbers of people. When cavemen used the writing technology of rocks and berry juice to draw on the wall one man was able to share his ideas with everyone that passed through the same cave. As men later invented written words and then, through the years, printing presses a single mans influence went from hundreds to thousands. Jumping forward to today it is easy to see that even this blogg has the potential of being seen by millions of people all over the world. Of course there will always be people that object to the advances in technology because it is causing us to alter the abilities we have used in the past, but after all that has been gained by more people having access to mediums of communication is it realistic to lament that our cave painting abilities have been lost in exchange for world wide communication? Sure things are lost but, as with everything in life, we have gained things as well. It would seem that the people that object to the advances in communication do so because of the fear that their power over information will be diminished as new advances take hold. For example for many years religious leaders encouraged the members of their congregations to simply follow what they told them about the Bible rather then read it for them selves. As printed Bibles became more available it was possible for the members of the congregation's to read for them selves and begin to form their own ideas about religion. It seems that so far technology has become an equalizer of communication rather then a destroyer of it.
2 comments:
"It seems that so far technology has become an equalizer of communication rather than a destroyer of it."
Love it!! Its so true. with each new technology, more people have more opportunities to communicate. Maybe power/influence over it is why there's so much resistance to change in language. The new technologies that come about destroy the hierarchies we build up with language. Cool!
An adroit explanation of the benefits of technology across the ages. And in general I agree.
I do wonder, though, if technology always works as an equalizer. For example there were literally hundreds of years of religious scribes who held the power over the technology of writing. In our modern age only the rich and famous have the ability to run influential ads on tv, a powerful technology. And while the Internet and computers can potentially give publishing access to the masses, it can also, and does, exclude millions who do not have access to this technology.
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