The first page of “Communication as Culture” by James W. Carey brings up a good point about how modern technology has changed the way we communicated. Carey even stated, “perhaps the most important single change in human consciousness in the last century, and especially in American consciousness, has been the multiplying of the means and forms of what we call ‘communication'”.  Communication is a basic action all humans perform on a day to day basis. Communication comes in multiples form, from speech to body language. We communicate in order to express how we feel and our ideas to other people. Body language is not usually easy to point out unless you focus but we also communicate subconsciously through that manner.

In Carey statement, he is saying that modern technology gives us more options in the way we communicate with others.  In the article, he mentions that in the past long-distance communication was harder to achieve. It also takes into an account when you want to spread the word for your business as an advertisement or if your a politician and you want to speak the biggest audience possible.  With modern forms of technology like telephones, you are now able to talk to friends and family in other parts of the world. Even with the internet, it makes it easier to broadcast your ideas, advertisement social life.

For this weeks reading I looked at the article ORALITY AND LITERACY by Walter Ong. The article reflects on the idea that the technology of books and any written documentation is making humanity more “stupid”. The author sourced Plato in which he claims “writing destroys memory. Those who use writing will become forgetful, relying on an external resource for what they lack in internal resources”. To an extent I do I agree with Plato’s ideas. Hes saying that instead of us actual trying to use brain power to memorize and think of ideas and facts, we instead rely on what is already written down. Once those written documents are burned they are gone for ever unless someone can remember them. It is similar to calculators, some people believe they will cause society to worsen an individuals math skills.
But my argument is written statements hold information longer and once its written it can’t be changed unlike oral history. You can tell the same story multiple times but it may be subject to change and false info may be spread. Also it is more easier to learn more knowledge and makes it widespread to anyone that can pick the book and read.