In Ong's book Orality and Literacy, Ong argues that human beings communicate through both writing and speaking but that the oral language is so much more important. He claims that only 106 languages have ever been written down and today only 78 of over 3000 languages that are spoken today have a literature. I think the Ong makes a good point. By far the spoken language succeeds the written in popularity and practicality. But I would like to argue that the written is what makes a civilization what it is. While oral language allows the people of the tribe to communicate with each other, it takes something in writing to communicate with those to come. Without writing, stories and histories that shape our past and continue to give humans a forward progression in evolution would be lost. As shown by Gutenburg's invention of the printing press, written word allows for education and power to those not predisposed to it. Everything we know about past civilizations, their inventions and history alike, are because of written records. The Rosetta Stone was such an amazing discovery because it allowed the archeologists to understand a people that they had not yet understood.
Oral language is important in the now. But to claim, as Ong does, that it is somehow more important, I must disagree with. I must admit that many stories are past down through families that define the culture. But they will eventually die out without any written record.
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