Much of what passes for rational communication is incoherent gibberish. That could be claimed for these as well.  To you I say 'blarrgh'.  To claim this as a modern phenomenon is rather arrogant.  If we look through history we see that most people have varying levels of coherence.  The unique feature of today is that we bombard ourselves with information.  Saturation bombing does not just refer to military action.  It can also refer to multimedia saturation.  We are drowning in content.  Our minds, our very persons, have not moved from the Stone-Age – and will probably never move on from that mental space.

The result of this is the increase in what amounts to brain-washing.  In the past means of communication were limited.  They were often limited to talking. Writing was more sophisticated, required specialised tools and training, and then someone was still needed to deliver it.  Books were a valuable commodity because they contained a static record of the data.  For those familiar with the works of Umberto Eco, such as 'The Name of the Rose', or Jorge Luis Borges, or Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451', the value of books is clear, as they are traps in which ideas, experiences and feelings can be kept.  They are, however, physical and require care concern and special skills to maintain.

Thus oral tradition predominated.  To look down on oral tradition as primitive is inane.  It is still the first mode of information transmission today.  Gossip and other personal news is not usually transferred by encrypted radio transmissions.  It is usually word of mouth in a social setting.  In an oral environment there is always the risk of deception being passed through the community by a corrupted message or messenger.  This can be seen in the story traditions of most peoples, for instance with Loki in Norse legend.  Such infections are usually minor as the only ones to be affected are those aware of the lie.  Unless told you want know.  Therefore there could be varying levels of infection.

This is the key difference of today.  Communication encompasses a wider range of people.  Huge numbers can be in receipt of the same message instantly.  Humanity is just as credulous in 2009 AD as they were in 2009 BC.  Critical thinking cannot be brought to bear on many issues because a great many people have neither the time, experience or inclination to do so.  Can anyone go through the Koran and the history of Islam to discern whether or not it is fundamentally malevolent?  Many issues must be taken on trust and so people can be abused.  Witness the Third Reich, or anyone watching a reality TV show.

Next to be considered is how language can be used for all manner of nefarious, and some benevolent purposes.  But first, redundancy and overload - how many idiots saying the same idiotic things does it take before ordinary folks declare war on the internet.  I really hope pitchforks can beat electrical impulses.

-Pietro Aretino

DV

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