Project overview
- 1. Section 1 The idea of writing became reality 5,000 years ago. Since then the technology of writing has passed through many forms during its evolution into the implements we use today. The impact of writing can not be underestimated, and the power of words "Words are the model, words are the tools, words are the boards, words are the nails." - Richard Rhodes (journalist, historian, and author) "It has not been for nothing that the word has remained man's principal toy and tool: without the meanings and values it sustains, all man's other tools would be worthless." - Lewis Mumford (historian, sociologist, and philosopher of technology) "When I read great literature, great drama, speeches, or sermons, I feel that the human mind has not achieved anything greater than the ability to share feelings and thoughts through language." - James Earl Jones (actor) The leap from oral to written language allowed for the creations of civilizations. I plan to argue in my final project that writing is the technology that has enabled the development of civilization fully automatic story generation, David Beque: The Infinite Adventur Machine a project commissioned by Microsoft Research, Cambridge, in which we were asked to “experiment with new tools for authoring”…”to redefine the relations between public and private authorship”. My aim was to reintroduce writing as a form of thinking, and as the research advanced it became clear that thinking and writing are not only the “twins of mental life”, they can actually produce a possible form of it. There is a rich world of symbols that can change our perception of the written language. Never pronounced, constantly evolving, these seemingly trivial hooks, dots and lines can clarify, But on our keyboards this diversity is reduced to the bare minimum. the future of writing = the future of reading Resources: Beall, Matthew and Topp, Steve. “Moving Towards a New Literacy: The Impact of the Internet on Literacy.” McMaster University, 1999.
- 2. Burns, Alfred. The Power of the Written Word: The Role of Literacy in the History of Western Civilization. Peter Lang, New York. 1989 Butler, Chris. “The Birth of Writing and its Impact.” The Flow of History: A Dynamic and Graphic Approach to Teaching History, 2007. http://www.flowofhistory .com/units/pre/1/FC7 Dunne, Anthony, et al. “The Future of Writing.” Microsoft Research: Cambridge, UK. 2012. http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/thefutureofwriting/ Searle, John. Interview by David Boulton. Language, Writing, Mind, and Consciousness. Children of the Code, 2005. Section 2: Objectives of the Project Explore how writing systems and technologies developed and evolved Evaluate the positives and negatives of ancient and modern writing technologies Discuss the affects writing systems and technologies have had on civilization, individuals, and the environment Analyze the future of writing systems and technologies, and the possible implications of future developments Section 3: The obvious medium through which to discuss writing is writing itself! I am looking forward to generating a written report