Merriam-Webster describes technology as “a manner of accomplishing a task using technical methods or knowledge.” In English 328 our assignment was to invent our own unique writing technology. In other words, using none of the currently considered typical items of written communication, we were to use objects found in our household or nature to invent a “new” technology for writing.
This assignment to create a new technology was challenging. After having read Plato’s Phaedrus where Socrates posed a number of objections to the written word, I had concerns about whether I would be able to address or overcome these concerns adequately. Even Walter J. Ong, Sr. acknowledges Plato’s concerns as well in his essay, Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought. He quotes Plato as saying that, “Writing is simply a thing, something to be manipulated, something inhuman, artificial a manufactured process.” (p. 21) He also quotes Plato as saying, “writing destroys memory, it is unresponsive and passive.” These were incredibly large obstacles to think about in trying to create a new technology. Would I be capable of creating a technology that would overcome these objections? I had a difficult time in viewing writing as being unresponsive or passive. In fact, according to Ong, “To say that writing is artificial is not to condemn it but to praise it. Like other artificial creations and indeed more than any other, writing is utterly invaluable and indeed essential for the realization of fuller, interior, human potentials….Writing provides for, thereby accelerating the evolution of consciousness as nothing else before it does.” I can’t consider writing as passive when it has the ability to make me think critically, drip tears from my eyes or giggle out loud with mirth.
Writing technology has come a long way. Starting with clay tablets, technology has advanced us from hand held tools all the way to hand held electronics that do our writing for us. I was somewhat heartened to realize that perhaps these concerns of Plato’s would never be overcome. Perhaps, it isn’t appropriate to compare this ancient way of thinking to our current way of thinking. Is it applicable to our society and our needs and demands today? Life has certainly changed from Plato’s time until now. Have we not proven that some of Plato’s concerns would be irrelevant by today’s society? One of Plato’s concerns was for memory. He questioned whether writing weakens the memory. But, without writing, it is fairly possible to say that we may never have heard of Plato. Ong states that “the technology of writing was not merely useful to Plato for broadcasting his critique of writing, but it also had been responsible for bringing the critique into existence.” (pg, 21-22) The question of destroying memory will always be a concern. But, isn’t our society much more advanced and chaotic than in Plato’s day? Most of us admit that we would be lost without the tools that we enjoy that keep our lists, schedules, and thoughts in order. Glancing at a calendar, jotting down needed grocery items, sending a quick email to a colleague are just a few of the “written technology” things we do each day! Pens, pencils, notebooks, calendars, erasers, computers, internet….whoa! Could we really do with out these tools?
Another concern I had with creating a writing technology was that writing was viewed as being dead on the page, or unresponsive or passive (according to Plato.) But Ong states, that while Plato thinks in terms of writing being external, and by contrast, we have “so deeply interiorized writing, made it so much a part of ourselves….. we find it difficult to consider writing to be a technology as we commonly assume printing and the computer to be.” (pg 22) Plato’s argument is that writing can not defend itself. Writing on a page can’t answer questions, defend its position, where as speaker can. I beg to differ. I think that with today’s writing, literature, classics, poetry, lyrics and journalism to name a few, it is impossible to consider it passive. The written word has the ability to touch our emotional being in a way that only the reader knows and experiences. We are free to “read” into it as we please. No two readers will experience the same exact interpretation, thoughts and feeling from a writing, therefore making it a unique personal experience.
It is hard to imagine that if Plato were alive today, he would still prefer the spoken word versus the written word. I am in favor of advancements in technology. My favorite instrument is my phone with a Kindle application. Wherever I go, I can carry hundreds of books in the palm of one hand. However when dealing with academics, I would much prefer a tangible piece of paper or book in my hands than reading from a computer screen. I found the easiest way for me to read and assimilate information is to print the readings. Then I read, highlight and add notes in the margins as I study. (This method was even recommended by Professor Krause (post September 18, 2010.) As easy as it sounds, there is a lot of technology involved: electricity, computer, printer, access to the internet, access to “e-reserves” and a pen/pencil. It would be impossible for this information to be distributed – effectively – in an oral tradition.
New Technology has sky high new prices. In From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies, Dennis Baron states, “Each new literacy technology begins with a restricted communication function and is available only to a small number of initiates. Because of the high cost of the technology and general ignorance about it, practitioners keep if to themselves at first – either on purpose or because nobody else has any use for it – and then, gradually, they begin to mediate the technology for the general public. …..As costs decrease and the technology becomes better able to mimic more ordinary or familiar communications, a new literacy spreads across a population. (p.71) I love this observation. Having been around since the dawn of the dial phone, I remember when cordless phones first appeared on the scene. I remember thinking to myself, “That seems really nice, but is it really worth the price?” Shortly after this I moved across the country. Phone calls from home were a precious commodity. Now I realized that cordless phones were worth their weight in gold. I could carry it with me throughout the house and yard and never miss a call. Flash forward 25 years and I find myself panicking at the thought of being out of the house without my cell phone. It takes a while for the population to adjust to a new technology. There is a lag time from the introduction of a technology and the realization that the technology would be useful in our lives. Luckily, by the time I get around to upgrading my technology, it has usually come down in price, from its initial astronomically high introductory starting price.
Every day, I find myself in awe of technology. This is from the kid who had to get up early on Saturday mornings just to watch cartoon. I also spent half my life tethered to the phone that was attached to the kitchen wall. I am surprised that I have come as far as I have. I wonder at what point will it become overwhelming for me and if and when I will opt out? It seems like my parents-in their 70s- are a little too overwhelmed by it all and tend to be resistant to change. Will it be easier for me because I am younger? Part of me wants to know what creations my children and grandchildren will have.
With each new introduction of technology, come the nay-sayers that spout the negatives and the “dumbing” down of society. Calculators would cause school children to become dependent upon them and not memorize their math facts. Telephones had no device for recording the words but as time goes on we find society fully embracing each new technology.
Now, keeping all these concerns in mind, I was taxed with creating a writing technology. I mulled a number of thoughts in my head. I thought of using a liquid and a tool to create letters. However, I couldn’t get a fix in my mind as to how to make it permanent. I decided to go with a cooked pasta noodle. The cooking of the pasta would render it pliable and I would be able to shape it into individual letters. I planned on letting the pasta harden in individually shaped letters and being able to use and reuse the letters for future communication, thereby, having a more “cost effective” and more permanent form of writing. Unfortunately, once I started working with the pasta, I discovered it wasn’t as compliant as I wanted it to be. It would not stay formed in individual letters. On the other hand, this technology turned out to be quite flexible in that it easily allowed for the roundness and connected letters of cursive.
Another positive asset to this newly invented technology is the low introductory costs! A box of noodles is inexpensive. Granted, it isn’t the most convenient method, in that the noodles must be boiled first. But whole batches can be made and stored for later use. I also like the fact that this method can be used with almost any writing surface.
In The Shape of the Book, the author states that we judge a lot books by their covers. The same can be said for physical writing style and font. The cursive writing of this technology is appealing. However, one must also consider that cursive writing itself is becoming an outdated technology. There are instances of school aged children admitting to the inability of not be able to cursive write but also reading cursive writing!
Overall, I am happy with the technology that I created. It is easy to preferred to have created a writing technology with a bit more permanence, but I suppose the trade-off for this technology is that if you get hungry while working, it also makes a great snack or meal.
Works Cited
“From Plato’s Phaedrus.” Web Page. <http://www.stevendkrause.com/academic/eng328/phaedrus.html> 17 September 2010
Ong, Walter. “Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought.” Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook. Eds. Ellen Cushman, Eugene R. Kintgen, Barry M. Kroll, and Mike Rose. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. 19-31
Baron, Dennis, “From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies” from Passions, Pedagogies, and Twenty-first Century Technologies, Ed. Gail E. Hawisher and Cynthia L. Selfe. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1999. 15-33.
Manguel, Alberto. “The Shape of the Book.” A History of Reading. New York: Viking, 1996. 125-148.
