Knowledge institutions have a profound impact on knowledge itself. Knowledge, in turn, has a profound effect on civilizations and plays a major role in shaping history. Several learning institutions have been analyzed by our class this semester, all of which have certain strengths and weaknesses, and all of which have had different effects on history. Despite major advancements and paradigm shifts accompanying all transitions from one learning institution to the next, writing systems and written knowledge represent the greatest reinvention of knowledge in history because of the economizing effects and additive qualities this shift had on knowledge.
It is important that I make it clear I am in no way discrediting folk knowledge or oral knowledge, and that for the purposes of this paper; Print knowledge will be included as an extension of written knowledge. The fact of the matter is that without spoken language, it is doubtful we would have written knowledge systems, though these two are not entirely co-dependant. And folk knowledge is one of the most frequently used teaching and learning systems for skills that we are expected to have in society. Both of these knowledge institutions have played huge roles in the development and progress of mankind. Both systems also bear the hallmarks of the additive nature of knowledge – we take what we know and add new things to it. I was informed in one of our salon groups today that the Mayans, and very morality-centered culture – performed brain surgeries! While this advanced oral knowledge is impressive, the shortcomings of the oral system make this type of knowledge too frail to achieve what written knowledge has achieved.
The economization of knowledge seems to be almost synonymous with the creation of writing systems. As soon as Egypt started using papyrus producing it became as viable a trade as a butcher or a tailor. We see this “Office Max” effect across cultures. Writing uses supplies, and where there is an economic need (be it vellum, clay tablets, parchment or stone), there will be entrepreneurs willing to fill it. This shift is important because it signifies the change from knowledge being open and public to something private and controlled.
The other effect of written knowledge is that it is the first knowledge institution that magnifies the naturally additive nature of knowledge. Initially, this was done through marginalia as a copyist added his commentary to the text he was copying, thereby adding perspectives and opinions to the original knowledge produced in the text. The fixed nature of a text also allowed indexing, referencing, searching and researching, leading eventually to the complex web of information many people in our class experienced doing our annotated bibliography assignment.
The impact that writing had on knowledge was magnified tenfold when printing became a viable source of disseminating information. All the good things mentioned above were increased. Rather than just writing in the margins when you were copying a book, it was affordable enough that you could read your copy and discuss what you thought with your friend who also had a copy. The larger numbers of books out there meant that the scientific findings of one person could be published over a much larger area. The economy of writing also changed, as intellectual property and book sales became as much of an issue as the industry of manufacturing the materials needed to operate a printing press.
Then as people published their ideas and discussed them (and possibly more importantly discussed how to control the sale of them), the university emerged. The university exemplifies the economization and additive qualities that were bestowed on knowledge by writing based systems. A university is, after all, a business. The employees (professors) offer a product (knowledge) to customers (students). These businesses attract customers based on reputation, which is gained by consistently adding valuable chunks of information to the existing web of knowledge.
Turning knowledge into an economy was no minor occurrence. It has been one of the great defining paradigm shifts in history. And though there is no learning style that can be rightly discredited or set aside, it is clear that the reinvention of knowledge of greatest impact was the shift to written knowledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment