William Cope
Reda Sadki
May Thet Khine Nyein
Eugenia Arvanitis
Pinakini Shah
Jonathan deHaan
Alessandra Coutinho Fernandes
Ketan HeinLiteracy Teaching and Learning MOOC’s Updates
Section 1c: The Coming of Writing
Writing first arrives on the human scene about 5,000 years ago. Over the next few thousand years, writing is invented separately in four separate places: Mesopotamia, India, China and Central America. The printing press, invented in 1450, makes writing an integral part of human societies. From the mid nineteenth century, modern societies set universal literacy as their objective. However, even today, approximately 1 billion people cannot read or write in the ways valued by modern societies and schools.
But literacy is a complicated thing. It spells the death of many small languages. It comes at the same time as mass, institutionalized inequality.
To explore these themes further, read the texts in the 'Starting to Write' section of our supporting materials website.
Comment: From your reading and video viewing, what are the most significant things about the coming of writing - the good and the not-so-good?
According to what I've studied, writing has greatly influenced human society in both positive and harmful ways.
On the one hand, writing enables us to retain and recall knowledge across time. Writing helps turn short-term memory into knowledge that can be accessed at any moment, as my lecturer once stated. Many significant experiences, concepts, or lessons might be lost over time in the absence of written documents.
In contrast, writing was extremely restricted in its early phases of development and was only accessible to a select few, including the aristocracy, bureaucrats, and religious leaders. Because of these restrictions, significant texts—such as historical or religious records—were vulnerable to alteration during copying or transmission, whether as a result of mistakes, changes in context, or personal preferences.
This reminds me that writing remains a product of human perception, even though it appears objective. Therefore, it is important for us not only to read but also to develop critical reading skills so that we can understand the background, context, and potential bias of each text.
Yes, the coming of writing brought us many advancements, like preserving knowledge, history, and cultural understanding across generations, and fostering the spread of ideas; however, there is a downside to it. Writing can be a complex organization during the development process it could be more sophisticated social structures, including the creation of fixed and unchangeable record that potentially harmful societal norms or historical accounts.
I believe the coming of writing has a positive effect on human history, as it helps document or preserve knowledge. However, it comes with negative effects, as the elite are the ones capable of accessing it, which results in inequality.
After reading and watching those videos, I think I am safe to conclude that writing really had a significant mark. On the bright side, it actually allows us to preserve knowledge and history that will be transmitted to the future generations and not just merely relying on memories or oral storytelling. However, the down side is just the well-learned or the people in power were initially capable of reading and writing, thus not all could utilize it. This meant that few people controlled most of the information as well as the power.
Writing has a significant impact in our society that shaped our literacy today.
From your reading and video viewing, what are the most significant things about the coming of writing - the good and the not-so-good?
I’m from the Philippines, let me share a few facts about our language. Since we have been colonized many times, I know my ancestors have undergone significant changes, especially in the language we have around 170 to 180 living indigenous languages, and several non-indigenous languages. In Aklan, which is my hometown we specialize in using the letter “EA”. I remember some of the people I know would try to speak my language but failed to do so, even though they spoke it; you can just clearly tell it’s not their mother tongue. But back to the question asked, I’m glad that writing was created, and it bloomed into a significant need for a person. Even so, this good and the not-so-good still depend on a person’s perspective. I love reading all the comments here it’s so insightful.
Writing evolved from a means of communication into a tool for social, political, and economic control, initially limited to the elite and used to maintain inequality. As it spread, writing accelerated the disappearance of smaller languages due to the dominance of major languages with established writing systems. The education system also played a role in language homogenization by promoting official standards that replaced local dialects. Additionally, writing shaped the concept of value in modern society, including how knowledge is organized and assessed through a textbook-based education system. This narrative is thought-provoking, highlighting the lasting impact of writing on the world today.
The advent of writing marked a pivotal shift in human communication, offering the significant advantage of preserving information across generations, thereby facilitating the accumulation of knowledge and the development of complex societies. However, this transition also had its drawbacks. The reliance on written records introduced barriers to those without access to education, potentially exacerbating social inequalities. Moreover, the emphasis on written language may have led to the undervaluing of oral traditions and the rich, nuanced knowledge they convey. Thus, while writing has undeniably propelled human progress, it is essential to acknowledge and address the disparities it may have reinforced.
The invention of writing was a game-changer for humanity. On one hand, it allowed knowledge to be recorded and passed down, making it easier to preserve history, laws, and stories. It also helped societies organize themselves better, from trade to government. But at the same time, writing created inequalities—only a few people had access to literacy for a long time, which gave them power over others. It also led to the decline of oral traditions, which had been such an important way of keeping cultures alive. So, while writing brought huge benefits, it also came with some downsides.
Almost like any other new concept, society needed to accept writing. In the early days of writing in symbols like Sumerian cuneiform, different cultures have borrowed and adapted parts of language to create their own. Humans in those cultures have had to determine if it was beneficial to them to have official scribes to create the language. However, if we look at the English language now, there have been many words added to the dictionary more recently based on societal and cultural usage. As a high school teacher, it is wild to see students trying to use different words to make their own slang. Some of these words stick, but some of them do not make sense to adults. In this case, there won't be new definitions added to the dictionary based on these interactions, but the students use this jargon in their everyday oral language.