When paper tigers become extinct

A look at the future of printed words

Th nature of mankind is to evolve, the nature of mankind is to be more efficient, smarter, faster and stronger. The culture of mankind is to become wealthier, more attractive and more powerful, to enjoy, this Neitzsche calls the "will to power". It is in some way inherent in each and every one of us and whether we know it or not, drives us in some way to interact with our world in a way that exemplifies the species.

You are reading this, I am writing this, it is a simplistic form of expression based upon a simple code of symbols that form images in your mind when formulated in structures, and when those structures are further elaborated upon, allows you to infer the intended expression of the writer. There is a beauty in writing, and hitherto in reading that cannot be detracted from, yet, it has evolved, not from the perspective of styles or creativity, which most definitely have, perhaps an example of which might be James Joyce's stream of consciousness style of writing, but they have in fact changed from the aperture of mediums. 

Old texts use pictures as symbols or include artwork in the texts to reinforce meanings, pictures they say "speak a thousand words" and, though this is most certainly arguable, they most certainly present a "fast food" version of what sometimes may be an indigestible meal.

We teach children with bright colours and pictures, songs and repetition until they are old enough to read and then we bombard them with inferences through written words to educate them, it seems rational enough after all that learning that we use the system of communication and study to continue their mental expansion. The break in the system, though not seen necessarily so, is quite obvious, we progress onto reading, writing and homework and the bombardment of knowledge through text and stuffy classrooms. 

What has changed? Why when our brain is a sponge, accelerating through the learning curve do we suddenly switch to such a stimulus devoid medium? Of course we don't completely detract from the use of the visual and aural stimuli, but we definitely retract a portion of it. 

This is almost digressive from my point but I am moving towards it using the very system we are taught to use to infer and to create the inferred. I am telling you a story, painting a picture, putting an idea from my mind into your mind. You see the symbols, they make words, they make sentences and by the basic principles of language, you understand, from some perspective, my meaning.

So, this is all wonderful and you are "understanding" me, the words I am using, the phrases that are formed and the picture I am painting for you, though you may not yet see the trajectory of my intent.

So, now, what is it that i am getting to? 

Let's just apparently digress for a moment, do you use Youtube or Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp or Snapchat? If no then you must wait a while longer for my deliberation, if yes, then I will ask why?

Of course it would be to communicate, to see new and interesting things, to learn, to give opinion, to be part of a community of people who are like minded, to share and receive, but to what end? It is still the will to be better, to know more, to be more involved, it is those inexorable drives that give us satisfaction, pleasure, power, whether through knowledge or community or expression. 

So now, digression aside, there is an undeniable move through the medium of social interaction, to choose the fast fix of visual and aural stimulation, which provides seemingly immediate and easily absorbable information, without the necessity to use the imagination to infer. No longer do you need to picture the Sahara desert crossed by nomadic tribes because it can be seen and a narrator can explain clearly what is happening, Japanese is no longer a foreign language because you can take 5 easy lessons on Youtube and speak "like an expert". 

So, what of written word? What of text? What of learning symbols and structures? Do we need them?

Kindle offers us the ability to read without all the paper and volumes of space hogging books, are books in fact just a romantic part of the past?

We must see the evolution of things, information and knowledge that was 100 years ago available only to a privileged few, is now available to the masses 100 fold, seemingly nothing is hidden, Google has mapped the world in 3D, so we have little excuse to not know or understand its secrets.

Will we need to write in the future? Will we need to read in the future? Will words in text still play such an important part? or will people require only the aural visual content of information? Will language and expression evolve as has our need to absorb it?

You are reading this, yet if you watched it as a video on Youtube, what difference would you infer?