We Are A Text Based Culture...For Now

Eric Higginbotham
DTC 375 Language, Texts & Technology
Dr. Farman
19 February 2009
Word Count: 965

We Are A Text Based Culture…For Now

We, as human beings, have come a long way in communication since our distant ancestors cleverly invented physical motions that were used to communicate. We have passed the stages of remembering our notes and songs like the troubadours achieved with profound memorization (Burke). As we progressed we were able to create text/print, which we still use to this day in almost every aspect of our lives. We read the paper or the internet every morning so that we can inform ourselves of what’s going on in the world. Professionally and personally we use e-mail to communicate with co-workers and family. No longer is it the norm to stir up a conversation over the phone, but rather we converse with our unlimited text messaging offered by every cell phone carrier. We do still utilize some oral properties, but I’m convinced that we are still a primarily text based culture.

Today, we are progressing in technology in almost every aspect of life. We’re breaking down barriers in medicine, communications, warfare, artificial intelligence, energy, transportation, and biotechnology, just to name a few. These fields have never been more complex than now. Walter Ong says “In an oral culture, to think through something in non-formulaic, non-patterned, non-mnemonic terms, even it were possible, would be a waste of time, for such thought, once worked through, could never be recovered with any effectiveness, as it could be with the aid of writing (Crowley, 68). There would be no way for us to advance as quickly as we are if we were an orally dominant culture. Formulas, results and data would be lost within our memory and would never be put forth for progression. We would essentially be “spinning our wheels” in the technological race.

On the other hand, entertainment has always been a big part of most cultures, whether it is singing, dancing or theatrics. Our culture needs entertainment to reduce the stress that’s put forth from the pressures from the corporate office. Our entertainment is primarily oral based and is an important aspect of our society. We need our favorite singer to sooth us when we’re in need. We need to watch that hilarious movie that everyone’s raving about. We need to go see our favorite baseball team win the World Series. We need to play that video game that is ground-breaking. These orally charged media is an aspect of our society that will always be a part of our lives.

The same concept can be seen when we are teaching our children. We do teach our children orally in the beginning stages of our accepted learning systems, but we are left with no option but to use this method to do so. After we learn how to read and write from orally projected information we then transfer that information to the pen and pad. Soon after, we rely on our notes that we scribe and the books we read to meet expectations of each of the twelve learning levels. We must burn this information in our memory so that we may reproduce it when prompted. The process of “burning” this information in our memory can only be done with the help of text. It’s virtually impossible to produce information solely from orally taught information that hasn’t been preserved.

I do agree that within the near future orality will become more and more of a participant in our daily lives. I have no doubt that there is a visually charged generation that is emerging. With the rise of social networks like MySpace and Facebook people are exposing their life and personality with images and pictures. This new generation of people is also now using more and more of an informal way of communicating with one another. Emoticons and the combination of letters and words (i.e. L8r, C-Ya, etc.) are causing issues with emerging generations in the professional field. “The tech disparity between 20-somethings and 40-somethings is far greater today than it was 20 years ago, when today's 40-somethings were the young turks” (Riper). To combat this many employers are creating programs to remind the new prodigies of proper work communication…a literate based communication. At least professionally, a literate based communication level is desired and will continue to be for a very long time due to its efficiency.

Some professions could benefit from oral communication. For example, a police officer has to juggle all sorts of tasks while patrolling the streets. He has to operate radios, scanners, radars and sirens while he looks for criminals and traffic wrongdoings, but he must do all this in addition to operating a car. The New Hampshire State Police and Carlsbad, California Police Department are now implementing a system that allows these police officers to successfully communicate with each tool with their voice. This will helps these officers with doing several tasks at a time (McKay).

Technology is a means of helping people adapt easily to their environment. There will be a day where machines will recognize our voices and do the things that we want them to do with quickness and ease. We will be able to control our TVs, cars, computers, lights and showers with the projection of a single word, but until that time I am convinced that we are still a text-based literate culture.

Works Cited

Burke, James. “The Day The Universe Changed.” BBC. London. 1985.
McKay, Jim. “Voice Activated Commands.” Government Technology. (2 May. 2006) 19 February 2009 http://www.govtech.com/gt/99366
Ong, Walter. “Orality, Literacy and Modern Media.” Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society. Ed. David Crowley and Paul Heyer. Allyn & Bacon, 2006. 66.
Van Riper, Tom. “Text-Message Entering Workplace.” MSNBC. (30 August, 2006) 19 February 2009 < http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14576541/>