Monday, September 28, 2015

Mightier Than the Pen


            Writing is a powerful medium that has power to convey messages in a unique way.  As with almost all methods of communication, it also has drawbacks.  In class we touched on the idea that writing in some sense takes the writer out of the message because the author cannot adapt to a changing audience.  I believe that is true, but there is more to it than that. 

            This semester I am taking an online class for the first time.  It is a completely different experience from a normal class because there are no lectures and we are often essentially required to teach ourselves out of the textbook.  Going into the class, I didn't have a problem with this.  Independent study is one of my strengths, so I didn't worry too much about having difficulty learning the material.

            However, after a few weeks I have had greater difficultly than I expected in internalizing what I am learning.  It isn't the textbook's fault; it's actually one of the more interesting textbooks I have read.  The problem is that writing has a limited "sink in" factor.  Imagine the difference between a commander who gives a rallying speech in a big booming voice that echoes down the mountainside and one who just writes it down on paper and distributes the message to his soldiers.  Which army is going to be more energized for the battle?

            There is a reason that political candidates give speeches rather than distributing treatises on government to the voting bloc they want to target.  A man giving you a message is more powerful than words written by someone you have never seen.


            That being said, I don't think the weaknesses of writing should inhibit our use of it.  Rather, I believe that the most effective message is the one taught by a variety of mediums so that each compliments and supports the others.  By using writing together with other communication forms, we can more fully bridge the gap between intellects and introduce a greater depth of internalization to the human mind.
"Pen, a," no changes made, by Alan Klim. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode

2 comments:

  1. I like the point that you make. Do you think that groups preferring speeches to written texts is a positive or negative thing or no opinion? I wonder is the preference for oratory signifies a lack of effort for gaining knowledge or literacy. Obviously, the pathos-heavy delivery of a speech can be so much more powerful than the ethos created by a written document, but should we be more persuaded by the writing?

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  2. I think striking a balance between the two is definitely the key. My experience with online classes has produced similar sentiments. I think a large part of it is the one wayness: although movies very similar to video lectures, at least they're interacting with themselves, and the disconnected feeling is not as large.

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