I’m sure you’ve heard the quote; “The methods change, but the message stays the same.” This is a quote Christian’s use to confront culture and technology. In essence saying, as long as you don’t change the message, anything goes for the methods of communicating it. Media is a tool used for communicating and therefore doesn’t affect the message at all. Well, what if the media was the message?
My son is five years old. This is an incredible time in life for him and one I love to be a part of. At this age he wants to learn everything and learning his letters is something that’s very important to him. Letters, reading and writing are in essence technology. Think of how this invention has transformed entire civilizations throughout history. This invention will affect Trent and also your children as they master this technology.
Think of a person living in a culture with no knowledge or means of writing. What if this person had something to say that would change the course of history forever? This person would have to share this information with others in the community in order to have it remembered and passed on to future generations. This is called oral tradition. The stories in the Bible including the gospels come from an oral tradition.
One of the markers of an oral culture is that it is very tribal or community focused and all the important ideas and traditions are held within the community. Identity is found not in the individual, but in the group as a whole.
What happens when we introduce the technology of writing into our oral culture? The technology of reading and writing demands isolation from the community. It serves to separate us from the others. Then, because we have the ability to write down our ideas, we no longer have the threat of losing those ideas. And so the community is no longer necessary for establishing and maintaining one’s cultural identity. As a consequence, literate societies tend to be very individualistic. Identities are determined by boundaries. My personal identity is determined not by the community, but by where I end and you begin. The concern is with who I am as an individual apart from the community.
These are just a few examples of the shaping power of literacy. Two different cultures — two different value systems and cultural habits determined in large part by the media used to communicate. It has nothing to do with what you say, but rather with what you use to say it.
As the electronic age accelerates at a blinding speed we must not become scared and isolate ourselves. We must study and try to understand it rather then be used by it.
