EL336: Havelock informal reflection

Jeremy's entry on this reading gave me the opportunity to raise a question. Jeremy feels that "speech relies on writing, one needs the other." I raised the question of how, then, was any attempt at communication successfull before writing was discovered and widely used? Of course people adapted to soley oral communication because that was the only method they were aware of. These days, our lives would fall apart with the inability to jot things down or send a quick e-mail. Are you one of those people who signs on to an instant messaging service simply to check people's away messages?

So technically I'm not disagreeing with Jeremy's argument. All I'm saying is that during the time period when orality was the only form of communication, it worked for them. There were people designated to run for miles on end to deliver a message by word of mouth, like a telegram. They were used to living without writing, they adapted to the fact that messages may not be recieved for days depending on the distance the messenger needed to travel.

In the medium of radio, I agree that a written script is the perfect form of preparation and guidance for a radio host. Jeremy made an excellent point when he said reading from a script is much more efficient and newsworthy than a disc jockey's random rambles. It's important for the radio host (this applies to television also) to have his/her ideas organized, and writing is the perfect way to do so.