The Nature of Knowledge Was Changed in the Transition from Oral to Literate Culture - Essay Example

The nature of knowledge was changed in the transition from oral to literate culture. How will the nature of knowledge change in a digital culture? Cultures are mainly comprised of transmission of traits, belief systems and behavior, all of which are human expressions which can be categorized into many classes. Technological advancement and development are elements that can best be used to describe a culture and to classify it accordingly. As a matter of fact, it is impossible to separate culture from elements such as invention, development and technology1. There are many cultures and eras which are interesting and are constantly studied, and the culture of technologies is one of those. Technologies have changed over the years, and this can be seen from the evolution of styles of communication and passing on of information. The development of technological cultures from one stage to another has become a subject of great interest. The main transition in technology and communication culture is the transition from the oral culture to the literate culture, after which the digital culture seems to have overtaken the other two cultures of communication2. Walter Ong is one of the most renowned theorists and researchers on the evolution from oral to literate cultures. It is believed that the oral culture was richer than the literate one, because of the level of socialization and memorization that this culture demanded. When the literate culture came, many critics arose who believed that the literate culture had come to “dilute” and to cause the value of the oral culture to diminish. One critic posited that the literate culture, whose main form of expression and storage of data was by writing and record keeping rather than speaking and memorizing, would cause the system of education to become dilute3. This critic felt that the memorizing power that was obvious in the oral culture would soon be forgotten, and people would rely on stored written information. Also, he believed that the ;iterate culture would cause a division and a widening of the gaps between people because of the lack of communication between them, simply because of the fact that information can be expressed, passed down or obtained from written material4. After the literate age, another culture that has emerged at a very high rate is the digital culture, also known as “information age.” This age has not totally overshadowed the literate age, but it in fact acts as a complementary culture to the literate one5. The digital culture involves computers and the culture of passing down information and storing information in virtual space unlike the literate system whereby communication is expressed and stored mainly in form of paper. The digital culture also incorporates the use of paper in the literate culture. This is where technological elements such as press and printing come in6. Therefore, the digital culture is not a replacement for the literate one, but rather it is a complement. The digital culture is characterized by a high degree of instant interaction7. Just as the literate culture mainly capitalizes on paper, the digital culture specializes on computers and press. Today, every economy in the world is dependent on the level of the advancement of its culture of digital communication and networking8. Relationships between human beings have changed simply because of the transformation of cultures of communication. The development in technologies from oral all the way to digital cultures has brought about a change in the mode of communication9. In the digital culture, real time transfer of information occurs between parties that are millions of miles away from each other in an instantaneous mode. As a result, every platform and process involved or affected by the culture of technology is transformed. This includes culture and politics. These two platforms have been greatly influenced by the different technological and communication cultures10. Especially because of the digital culture, politics have gone to a new level altogether in that digital communication is fully employed in politics. Cultural boundaries are melting every other day because of the digital culture of technology11. Different cultures all over the world are seeping into each other very quickly courtesy of the instant characteristic of the digital culture. The digital culture has caused such a vast and rapid exchange of cultural practices, belief systems and overall traits from one party to another. Science and technology has brought an altogether new dimension in education too12. It has generally been observed all over the world that the technology of communication, as it changes and evolves has changed continually cultures across the world. There is no single culture that still remains where it were years before the development of any culture of technology; the Asia-Pacific region is no exception, but it has also been part of the cultures transformed by the transformation in technology and communication. The Asia-Pacific region is one characterized by rapid growth of population and swift economic transformations. Because of these rapid changes, there has been a greater focus on issues on technology in the region which has been used to develop the region even more13. The Asia-Pacific region has greatly absorbed ICT and technological advancement into its system, and the culture of the region is one that is characterized by major shifts due to the development of technology. In the past, the Asia-Pacific region used to have poor education and economic systems simply because of the reason that ICT had not been adopted into the region well enough. In order for ICT to be adopted in a good way, the region had to invest in developing its infrastructural networks and the level of training of its people. The computer era and other major shifts in technology have caused such a great stretch on the previously rigid Asia-Pacific culture14. The Asia-Pacific region is a culture that was very rigid and conservative to any type of change introduced to it, and implementation of new advances in technology was not easy especially considering that the main people being introduced into the new technology were the consumer group in the market15. Therefore, the importance of advancement was not appreciated as it ought to be. As a result, the rate at which advancement seeped into the Asia-Pacific region culture was somewhat slow. It is because of the rate at which the world is becoming a village that has become a wake up call to the Asia-Pacific region. They have now stated seeing the need for ICT in the region, where they used to believe in the recent past that ICT was not a priority to them16. The people of this region also used to have reservations to ICT and technology because they felt that adoption of internet into their system would soon corrupt the morals and ethics of the society due to exposure to pornographic and illicit information online17. Advancement in technology has not been fully adapted, though, in the Asia-Pacific region, but at least the education system in the region has somewhat loosened up a bit by trying out new technology and incorporating it into their academic systems. The sector of commerce and trade has also gone a long way in adopting ICT and technological advancement into its system. In the trade sector, more and more people are incorporating the use of computers as opposed to the use of manually written materials. The rate of the change in the Asia-Pacific region may not be very rapid, but it is steady; digitalization is slowly becoming the culture of the region18. There are many barriers, though, to technology in the Asia-Pacific region. For instance, this is a region with problems with electricity. As a result, it becomes very hard to introduce computers, refrigerators, and other technological systems, most f which use electricity. Therefore, most of the places in the Asia-Pacific region have been introduced with computers that use other sources of power except electricity. The Asia-Pacific region also have a culture that somewhat hinders advancement of technology into the region, especially because of the many languages spoken in the region. English is the international language of internet and technology, or so to speak. As a result, it becomes a necessity that with the introduction f computers into the region, there is incorporated a system or machines that do translation from the many languages in the region into universal English and vice versa. This is a huge barrier, which seems to render the efforts to introduce computers into the region almost fruitless19. There are many remote locations in the Asia-Pacific region, which are unreachable by the ordinary satellite that serves other regions of the world. Therefore, it becomes very expensive to introduce computers into the region because of the fact that there will be need for installation of Low Earth Orbit Satellites which will ensure connection to the internet for such areas. Normally, computers use chips made from silicone, because they are more readily available in mass production and they are of good quality and properties. However, the Asia-Pacific region is a region in which the people have expertise in making manufactured articles and other imitate commodities. As a result, it becomes impossible to introduce computers with silicone chips because of the possibility of imitation, which may result to made-up technology. Therefore, extra efforts need to be made in finding an alternative to silicone chips for computers, creating yet another great barrier to technology in the Asia-Pacific region20. The Asia-Pacific region is a region dominated by many cultures, and these cultures all have their different contributions to the hindrance of technology seeping into the region. Gender issues are the most common in almost every culture in the Asia-Pacific region21. Women are not allowed to develop themselves in their career and education, and women in science and technology are stereotyped. This is because science and technology is believed to be a male territory, and it is dominated by men. Women are also closed out of any decision making processes, because most cultures in the region believe so. The educational system is also poorly organized such that only few are able to fully participate and benefit from it22. However, this is not to say that the Asia-Pacific region has not had some developments in technology that have brought positive changes. As mentioned earlier, the Asia-Pacific region has countries that have electricity problems and that are too remote for the universal satellite to serve, prompting the need for computers that are not powered by electricity and introduction of LEO satellites. Such computers usually have poor file size and low efficiency. However, the Aspera Inc. Company made an announcement in 2010 that brought hope to the Asia-Pacific region23. The Aspera Inc. Company announced the introduction of software that is able to cause even those slow computers to operate at the speed of a laptop and software that enables swift connectivity regardless of the remoteness of a place24. In that same year, over ten thousand software licenses were released into the Asia-Pacific region, making it possible for the use of the software in the region to start. Also, a principle of best practice has been adopted in technological advancement, such that the Asia-Pacific region and any other developing and underdeveloped areas that cannot contain high-tech advancements. Also, the introduction of an ICT clearing house is underway, and this is going to be a major breakthrough for the digital culture of the Asia-Pacific region and any other regions in the proximity25. The Asia-Pacific region, however, is not the only region experiencing huge changes in culture due to technological advancement. Every part of the world is undergoing rapid changes in culture because of the high rate at which technology is changing and permeating. This is especially the case with printing, radio and TV broadcasts and the internet. These are the fastest growing areas of media technology all over the world. More and more cultures are becoming integrated and common because of the common ground shared because of technological advancement. The society has been influenced by the same advancement as much as culture has been influenced. Political processes are also not left behind on this one; they have also greatly transformed because of technological transformation too. Technological advancement is a revolutionary and thorough change that is quite a handy tool all over the world today, and the only option that remains is that of embracing the change. Bibliography Akhtar, Shahid and Arinto Patricia. Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2009-2010. Canada: IDRC, 2010. Cheung, Chi-Kim. Media Education in Asia. New Jersey: Springer, 2009. Fox, Adam. Oral and literate culture in England, 1500-1700. London: Oxford University Press, 2002. Hjorth, Larissa. Mobile media in the Asia Pacific: gender and the art of being mobile. California: Taylor & Francis, 2008. Irvine, Martin. The Making of Textual Culture: 'Grammatica' and Literary Theory 350-1100. London: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Miller, Vincent. Understanding Digital Culture. New York: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2011. Orbicom. Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2007/2008. Canada: IDRC, 2007. Read More