MDSA02H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Written Language, Iliad, Scientific Method
Document Summary
Stores transmittable knowledge; not limited to memory; can travel distances/shared; can withstand generations and centuries; powerful tool over individuals with illiteracy. Oral cultures bases itself on two-way restricted info human dimension and human limitation. Knowledge in oral cultures is passed down through generations by stories; wisdom passed by elders, Written language undergirds most of civilization, yet there have always been societies without writing most ancient world remained illiterate (oral culture served most people) Paintings date back to caves; more recent alphabetic markings that western cultures identify as writing are diff than drawing bc they led to the phonetic system of representing sounds that are spoken language. It may"ve begun as physical tokens representing numbers and goods ex. Need for record expanded math was born; symbols indicated different quantities of something. Logograms emerged (written symbols that represented meaning) these scratches were true writing, the representation of what someone might say.
