We have a slightly better glimpse of human culture's next defining
moment which added literacy to the mix. For example, there is
Plato's account of Socrates' resistance to the new technology, how
writing would most certainly corrupt the human mind and destroy the
memory of mankind. We can only guess the extent of the damage which
Socrates forsaw, mourning the loss of more 'human' affordances that
might have been. But there is no doubt surrounding the revolutionary
implications of the new technology called writing. The world's great
religions established their permanent roots in the written Word. And
it is difficult to imagine how dynastic control of property (e.g. tax
collection, bloodless transfer of property, etc.) could have been
established without the possibility of a written record.
The next defining moment, modernity, is much easier for us to
observe in hindsight. History books speak volumes about the class
struggle that emerged between the church and nobility on one hand,
who'se dominance was well established in the scripted word, and the
emerging capitalist classes on the other, who'se self-evident claims
of authority were emerging exclusively through the medium of print.
Freedom of the press holds special meaning for those who control
the presses. The power of the press is the hallmark of capitalism.
The ability to control the message is what defines modern mass media.
It both assumes and requires a passive consumer audience (Marcuse,
1964). And with a global communication infrastructure and a common
language, imperialism opens up a multinational consuming market. Is
it possible that within this infrustructure lay the seeds of culture's
next defining moment?
In the advent of the postmodern, we're witnessing (participating in)
a most unlikely phenomenon. Web publishing is a mass medium that
opens itself to mass producers! For the first time since the demise of
oral culture, the message is once again controlled at the periphery.
While the medium opens itself to capital-intensive artifacts,
(technically sophisticated multi-media experiences, well edited and
well maintained content), it also opens itself to simple voices of
uncontrived human expression. A web page is more than a soap box. On
the Web, we shape our identities through the links we establish to others
of like mind and complementary value. The magic of the Web is not in
HTML, VRML or Java, not in high graphic content and multimedia design,
not in media-rich environments that demand a passive audience. The magic
is in the simple expressions of ourselves that weave the fabric of
community. Through such simplicity may be the enfolding of a new epoch.
Martin
http://www.cudenver.edu/~mryder/martin.html