An artist’s interpretation of the collective consciousness Courtesy: http://thegreaterpicture.com/

Communication and collaboration are two of the main driving forces in our progression as a race. Civilizations come and go but many of their achievements and discoveries are passed on to future civilizations through their written documentation. For example, Isaac Newton’s work  in mathematics and physics have shaped how they work today.
Nearly 300 years after his death he is still credited and revered as the father of modern physics, his intense documentation and the widespread publication of his work created the building blocks that facilitate modern physicists’ work.

Isaac Newton ponders a falling apple, eventually leading to his discovery of gravity Courtesy: http://www.pixshark.com 

The point I am trying to make is that it is not just one person working alone to advance our collective knowledge bank, but countless generations picking up from when the last left off. This assembly line if you will, is entirely made possibly efficient through the written word, writing facilitates learning and absorption of this information so that is can be continually contributed to and corrected.  As information becomes more accessible and available in different mediums through means such as the internet, film, TV, radio etc. this process exponentially increases in both effectiveness and efficiency.

Writing is a technology for the collective memory.
– Jay David Bolter

Jay David Bolter’s Writing Space raises the concept of the economies of writing present in various historical cultures. As further resources became available through advances in technology and awareness, these cultures began to harness the efficiency potential of the written word. As these technologies advanced from literal imagery to phonetic constructs, more meaning and information was able to be communicated with greater efficiently, leading to faster progress as a civilization. This method of writing also allows information to be translated from one language to another. One of the most important instances of this is the discovery of the Rosetta stone which allowed scholars an interpretation of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs as the information on the stone was also present in Greek script.

The Rosetta stone on display in the British Museum Courtesy: http://www.edukwest.com

However some issues arise from the written word, mainly concerning validity and misinformation. Writing often presents the material without any information regarding possible personal biases the writer may have been operating under. For example, Adolf Hitler’s infamous work Mein Kampf (My Struggle) outlining his political and social ideology, was strongly motivated by many factors that shaped Hitler’s personal distaste for Judaism and the current state of Germany. Hitler was able to use the success of his work as a political platform to garner widespread support on a massive scale. In hindsight, the following Hitler received behind such heinous actions and ideas is seemingly impossible, though is a testament to the effectiveness of the written word as a means of influencing.

6,000,000 Jews

3,000,000 Soviet prisoners of war

2,000,000 Soviet civilians

1,000,000 Polish civilians

1,000,000 Yugoslav civilians

70,000 physically and mentally disabled

200,000 Gypsies