|
Tony Blankley: Losing our grip on reality
Before the invention of movable type in the 15th century, the media of mass communication was limited to architecture, paintings, sculpture, images on coins and songs sung by balladeers. Christians learned about the dangers of Hell from the stained-glass stories in the cathedrals. The people might have had an idea of what their king looked like by his minted (usually heroic) image on coins. But they might not have known much about their king or what he was doing that might change or even end their lives suddenly.After the printing press, the sliver of humanity that was literate (mostly clerics, some of the more motivated aristocracy and a few merchants) engaged in continental communication of key new ideas. Slowly over centuries, literacy spread downward and politics and news began to be informed by books, newspapers and pamphlets. Prior to the invention of the telegraph in the 1840s, whatever news there was could move no faster than the trot of a horse although semaphore, yodeling, smoke-signals and carrier pigeons could move some vital information slightly faster over short distances. In fast succession mass and long-distance communication was advanced by the general availability of telephones (1870s), linotype-fast newspapers (1880s), radios (1920s), televisions (1950s), computers (1970s), the Internet (1990s) and cellular text, audio and now video devices (2000s). Posted by: .com 2006-12-20 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=175619 |