The semi-literacy point stays with me. When writing was confined to those who had to master it fully, it pulled the heaviest cognitive weight. Democratizing literacy brought mass communication but diluted the depth. Texting completes the reversal.
The Havelock.AI data makes visible something we feel but can't name: public language shifted toward oral structures well before digital arrived. Radio and the mass press moved the needle first. Digital orality accelerated a trajectory that started with the penny press.
Your trade-off (breadth + speed vs. depth + reflection) seems irreversible at scale. The question is whether individuals can opt out without disconnecting entirely.
Fair. Total opt-out is fantasy. The better question: can you build local pockets of depth inside the oral flood?
Monasteries didn't escape medieval society. They carved out different rhythms within it. Reading groups, certain professional training, corners of the internet do something similar now.
The scale problem doesn't go away. You can't counterprogram the whole culture. But if preserving certain cognitive capacities is the goal, choosing your inputs might be enough. Less "escape society" and more "pick which parts shape you."
Fascinating piece. The counter-intuitive point about semi-literacy being the apex of abstract thought is worth sitting with - it implies democratizing writing also diluted the cognitive intensity writing once demanded. I actually noticed this personally going from mostly reading dense texts to threaded posts; my tolerance for multi-clasue reasoning has gotten noticeably worse. What's sobering is that this predates smartphones entirely - journalsim and radio already set the pattern long before anyone had a feed to scroll.
The - deliberate- master of condensed language: 17th century English diarist Samuel Pepys, of whom it has been said his perfect daily entry would have been:
'Woke up, ate, went for a walk, had an ale, went to the Admiralty, went home, had dnner, went to bed'.
Of course, since he lived in interesting times (he wrote a first hand description of 1660s London plague epidemic, the great London fire and the naval wars with the Dutch (quoting a gentleman of the Admiralty "By Jove, it's as if the Devil s**** Dutch!"), and since he had no inhibitions writing even about his mistress, his diary is absolutely worth it
Project Gutenberg free version:
"The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete" by Samuel Pepys is a historical account written in the mid-17th century, specifically spanning the years from 1659 to 1669. This richly detailed diary offers a firsthand perspective on daily life during a transformative period in English history, including the Restoration of Charles II. Pepys documents his personal experiences, work as a naval administrator, and the socio-political events of his time, thus providing readers with an intimate look at both mundane and significant occurrences.
The semi-literacy point stays with me. When writing was confined to those who had to master it fully, it pulled the heaviest cognitive weight. Democratizing literacy brought mass communication but diluted the depth. Texting completes the reversal.
The Havelock.AI data makes visible something we feel but can't name: public language shifted toward oral structures well before digital arrived. Radio and the mass press moved the needle first. Digital orality accelerated a trajectory that started with the penny press.
Your trade-off (breadth + speed vs. depth + reflection) seems irreversible at scale. The question is whether individuals can opt out without disconnecting entirely.
No, "One cannot live in society and be free from society" - Lenin.
Fair. Total opt-out is fantasy. The better question: can you build local pockets of depth inside the oral flood?
Monasteries didn't escape medieval society. They carved out different rhythms within it. Reading groups, certain professional training, corners of the internet do something similar now.
The scale problem doesn't go away. You can't counterprogram the whole culture. But if preserving certain cognitive capacities is the goal, choosing your inputs might be enough. Less "escape society" and more "pick which parts shape you."
Fascinating piece. The counter-intuitive point about semi-literacy being the apex of abstract thought is worth sitting with - it implies democratizing writing also diluted the cognitive intensity writing once demanded. I actually noticed this personally going from mostly reading dense texts to threaded posts; my tolerance for multi-clasue reasoning has gotten noticeably worse. What's sobering is that this predates smartphones entirely - journalsim and radio already set the pattern long before anyone had a feed to scroll.
The - deliberate- master of condensed language: 17th century English diarist Samuel Pepys, of whom it has been said his perfect daily entry would have been:
'Woke up, ate, went for a walk, had an ale, went to the Admiralty, went home, had dnner, went to bed'.
Of course, since he lived in interesting times (he wrote a first hand description of 1660s London plague epidemic, the great London fire and the naval wars with the Dutch (quoting a gentleman of the Admiralty "By Jove, it's as if the Devil s**** Dutch!"), and since he had no inhibitions writing even about his mistress, his diary is absolutely worth it
Project Gutenberg free version:
"The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete" by Samuel Pepys is a historical account written in the mid-17th century, specifically spanning the years from 1659 to 1669. This richly detailed diary offers a firsthand perspective on daily life during a transformative period in English history, including the Restoration of Charles II. Pepys documents his personal experiences, work as a naval administrator, and the socio-political events of his time, thus providing readers with an intimate look at both mundane and significant occurrences.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4200