The other day, while reading Ian McNeelys book, Reinventing Knowledge, I came across an interesting passage. In discussing the history of knowledge he mentions how the medieval monasteries by writing and copying manuscripts not only saved much of intellectual thought from the ancient Greeks but also set a new president for discourse that issues could not only be explored through dialogue as the Greeks had done but that they could be written down and recorded, transported and discussed for ages. This change in media paradigm is one of the things that made the Renaissance possible and basically most of western civilization possible. So as we reconceive media we create enormous energy for change and transformation. I wonder where this explosion in communication will take us in the future? Will we have the presence to see it as an epic moment of change in the world or merely as a parlor trick to share videos of cats playing piano?
