Media, Information and Technoculture 2000F/G Chapter Notes -Elizabeth Eisenstein

• School: Western University
• Department: Media, Information and Technoculture
• Course: Media, Information and Technoculture 2000F/G
• Professor: Daniel Robinson

Document Summary

From the literate revolution in greece and its cultural consequences . This reading focuses on the significance of the invention of the alphabet and how it changed society. Havelock believed that with the invention of the alphabet came the invention of literacy. The world moved farther away from being an oral society because of the alphabet. Memorization became less important because they could easily refer back to what they had written/read if they forgot something about it. Ideas could be written down, preserved, and taught to future generations. To havelock, this ability to preserve was the most important use of the alphabet. Havelock also goes into some of the disadvantages of the early alphabet, i. e. the alphabet could not be standardized because everyone had different handwriting ( calligraphy . [became] the enemy of literacy ) and it was not used much until paper became readily available.