Posted: April 3rd, 2015

Empowerment of print

Introduction

According to DeGregori , Plato considered writing is a form of alien or external technology. A deeper understanding of writing and print media of communication would help understand its impact on the modern world. For instance, the growth of the human species does not develop naturally, it is through the technology of writing, either directly or indirectly that this transformation is attained. Over the years, writing or public media has been highly regarded as it has helped transform human consciousness. Writing has reconstituted originally spoken language to a visual space. This has formulated a platform where culture can be passed to other generations yet be under scrutiny in future times. It is evident that over the years, print has liberated, educated and exposed information to the masses leading to empowerment (DeGregori, 22).

The line between literacy and print is very narrow. For instance, comparing the kind of information; fiction, science or otherwise contained in a book cannot be compared to mere utterance. It thus very evident that print has had multiple effects to the modern society. This applies to institutions, churches, economy and even the government of the land. For instance, modern day print led to the revolution from oral based education to the modern platform that is adhered to by many. The modernized education system has facilitated the use of charts and other logical diagrams when formulating analysis. Print has also greatly enhanced the management of knowledge; for instance, the use of dictionaries greatly help in the correctness of the language. With regards to economic development, print has facilitated ownership of words. Unlike the primary culture that would encourage the sharing of themes and ideas, the modernized print culture has enabled use of proprietary rights (Briggs and Burke,72).

By the age of the television, radio, and, television secondary orality has been achieved. However, It cannot be considered so different from the earlier forms of oral language as the communication sense is the same. It is also notable that the secondary orality is based largely on writing and print which are considered the building blocks for manufacture, operation and usage of the equipments. The impact that is generated by the developments in technology will be attributed to print. For instance, television has brought a a change in the political arena of many nations. This is through reaching larger masses through the modern developments. The live debates like those held in various countries, it helps the audience know the personality of their leaders. With this mandate, print largely challenges the authority of various governments (Briggs and Burke,72).

The main challenge that print poses to institutions and governments its ability to expose information and to create awareness to residents of a particular country. It is also notable that print is very dynamic as compared to the primary oral culture. Writing has greatly impacted to religion and the church as a whole. This has greatly to lead to various religions adopting print as a form of media. However, according to Bloom, print lacks creativity and its products are derived from the influence from others or the environment they thrive in (Bloom, 77).

Conclusion

It is evident that over the years, print has liberated, educated and exposed information to the masses leading to empowerment. However, various forms of criticisms have come up. The main ones include that print brought to light what would otherwise be considered as secret, while the proponents consider this as empowerment emanating from print. Print is a media through which information is passed and as such, it has been able to challenge both governments and Christianity alike.