Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Creating a Social Divide through Book Evolution

"I'm Amanda DeBuse, and book evolution and how that creates a social divide matters to me because the world today is so focused on the digital media, and I have seen how it can effect personal interactions with other people. I have seen, literally everywhere I go, people on their personal device, especially in public areas. I myself have at times segregated myself from family and friends to do something on my laptop or phone, and I saw my relationships with them dwindle. When I put those things away, I was able to strengthen my relationship with my friends and family.
Here is my idea:




The coming forth of the book has caused people to loose their personal relationships, especially when the book evolved into all the mass media that we have now.



In the beginning, people just talked and enjoyed each other's company. Nothing digital or whatever was there to distract them from each other.
In the 1600s, written books came out, mainly because church leaders of the time needed sacred/religious books to study.
Missionaries used these written books to preach the gospel. People wanted the books, so the missionaries and other church leaders had to write the books themselves, which was pain-staking, and they would give these books to the people. There had to be an easier way...
An easier method for distributing all of these books to people who wanted these books for their benefit: "Labours...were as yet but so many Preliminary steps towards setting the work on a better Foundation in Time: For this could not be effected till the Missionaries were supplied with a Printing Press, and there by enabled to publish that sacred book...that others...might partake of a blessing." ~ Propagation of the gospel in the East: Being as Account of the Success of the Danish Missionaries sent to the East-Indies for the Conversion of the Heathen Malabar (1714) pg. 31
After books were published, people began not talking to each other more often because of these new church books, but they were religiously enlightened.




In the 20th century, new forms of media cam out that made is possible to read a book digitally. In the 1940s, it was the Electronic Index, completed not until the 1970s; in the 1960s, it was the "Electronic Book"; in the 1990s, the first e-book came out with its own personal device.
Newer versions of these digital books came out in the 21st century: "I will risk a prognostication:digital literature will be a significant component of the twenty-first century canon." ~ Katherine N. Hayles, Electronic Literature: New Horizons for the Literary (2008), pg. 159
Aleph Molinari said in his TED talk entitled "Let's bridge the digital divide!" that there are about 7 billion people on this planet, and 1/3 are digitally included (that is just over 2 billion people). The other 2/3 of the world (round 5 billion people) are not digitally included.
Let's have people step away from all of these e-books and other media so we can connect with the rest of the world. Let's put our relationships back together!




3 comments:

  1. I think you used your sources really well for you have a primary source quoted and a contemporary source as well. That is definitely your strong skill. I had never thought of how maybe reading would take me away from loved ones and weaken my relationships. I think this could be easily merged with Dr. Burton's overall topic of navigating communication through a wilderness of technology.

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  3. I loved the form and presentation of your post! It was clear and understandable. Although I agree that books can isolate us I'm not sure if I agree that books have caused people's personal relationships to suffer. I often build stronger relationships through the books I read. My friends family and I will share the books that we read with each other and then talk about what we read. The books we read create common ground with others and allow us to connect with people from different cultures and backgrounds.

    An example are Harry Potter books which have inspired the creation of a real life sports version of Quidditch which has over 200 teams in the United States. This has brought together hundreds even thousand of people together all over the country! We even have a team here in Provo (Go Nightfuries) That being said I loved your post and look forward to reading more about what you have researched!

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