Communication is life. With it, the world can function with ease, and make advancements or corrections as needed. Without it, we would not be here right now. In ancient times, there were primitive versions of language and writing such as notched bones and tokens (image on page 19 of the text Communication in History) that were used for quantitative data. Then things advanced with the invention of the alphabet, and writing and spoken word were more like they are today. The question is, which is better? The answer is subjective, but in my mind orality and speech win this argument hands down. Needless to say, this argument can’t be proved until both sides of the spectrum have been thoroughly analyzed.
Although writing is the precursor orality, speech is the most important technology in the realm of communication, and it does have quite a history. For example, jump way back in time to 1500 BCE at the invention of the Phoenician alphabet. This alphabet contained phonograms, which were parts of the alphabet that corresponded to making a certain sound which was usually the main syllable of a word (page 44 in the text Communication in History). Later in 700 BCE the Greek alphabet emerged, which was far more advanced and primarily based on speech. It was more advanced because of the invention of vowels, which made speaking far less complex and also made writing and speech parallel. From this, schooling, psychology, and memory were introduced. Eric Havelock, a British classicist professor discussed these three things under the title of “The Greek Legacy”, and proved that the Greek alphabet is responsible for them.
Moving on to more modern times, it is quite evident that effects of speech on society are far more prominent than the effects of writing on society. Seeing a person speak with power and emotion is far more effective than reading the same thing that was spoken. The proper term for this is secondary orality, which is basically a process that makes originally spoken things into print. This is ineffective in attempting to prove something to the consumer or reader, because there is no visible emotion in writing. A perfect example of this is Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech. In his speech, one can see how emotional he is on the subject. The tone and speaking patterns in his voice grab the listener’s attention. The hand gestures and facial expressions further more advance his point. Another perfect example of this is any speech from Adolph Hitler, during his rule in
Writing is a useful and important form of communication, and it was the precursor or speech, but I still strongly believe that orality is the most dominant and important factor of communication. In our world today, people are remembered for what they said and how they said it. Martin Luther King Jr and Adolph Hitler would never have been as effective as they were if everything they said was just written down and then handed to the public. If the phonogram was never invented, then we wouldn’t even have speech today. If you think about it, what would your life be with out speech? Everyone would be walking around with a pad and paper (assuming that was even invented) writing things down and showing it to people that they needed to speak with. Everything would be a much slower process, and mass communication would be nearly impossible. If mass communication didn’t exist, then nobody would know anything that went on outside of their limited area. There would be no communication between countries, and far more feuds and disagreements because of it. For this assignment, I attempted to go just 12 hours without talking to anyone, and I couldn’t go for a half an hour. That I think proves my point the most. Day to day life relies on speech, so with out it we would be in an extremely difficult lifestyle.
