Thousands of years have passed since our culture invented an alphabet to allow spoken words to be permanently recorded. This 'great leap' from orality to literacy had many consequences that will be discussed here. However, many other technologies have come into existence since the alphabet was invented and it has been suggested that we have moved beyond a stage of basic literacy into a new kind of 'post-literacy' or 'secondary orality' (Ong 1982), brought about by these new technologies. This essay will look at the differences between an oral culture and a literate one, describe the effects of literacy upon society, and look at technological breakthroughs, such as the Gutenberg press and more modern inventions such as television, telephone and computers, to see whether we are entering a new era in our progression from oral communication. I will try to examine if this supposed post-literacy, created by new means of communication, is a new stage in our development with profound effects on the structure of our society and look at how different life is with modern technology than life with simple literacy.

I will start by comparing orality and literacy to illustrate the deep implication

Mcluhan is so adamant that we have moved into a new era of human existence that in his interview in Playboy Magazine he says that the Gutenberg Galaxy, formed by the spread of print-led communication 'is being eclipsed by the constellation of Marconi ' (Mcluhan, in Playboy Magazine, 1969). Under the effects of participatory electronic media, Mcluhan suggests that linear typographic man will again learn to 'live mythically' (Mcluhan 1964). The concept of 'living mythically' suggests far more than simply being interconnected, of being able to send messages to each other more quickly and easily. It means living in a form of consciousness in which knowledge does not exist outside the knower, embodied in a physical text, but instead is lived dramatically, communally performed as the myths of oral man were performed.

It is approximately five hundred years now since the printing press was invented and all of these changes started to occur. Since then a whole array of new technological innovations have provided mankind with even more mediums through which to communicate information. The telephone, television and most recently computers and the Internet have made instantaneous global transmission of data a very real possibility. Mcluhan sees these new technologies as the agents of a process of 'retribalization' (Mcluhan 1962). The advent of the Gutenberg press started what Mcluhan terms 'the detribalizing of man' (Mcluhan (1962). The printing press made us all subordinate to the power of the written word. Mcluhan believes that the human experience is made up of an interplay between the five senses.

Mcluhan uses the metaphor of hot and cool to describe the various mediums of knowledge transmission. A hot medium is 'one that extends a single sense with high definition. High definition means a complete filling in of data by the medium without intense audience participation...In a cool medium, the audience is an active constituent of the viewing.' (Mcluhan, in Playboy Magazine, 1969). He uses this metaphor to explain why oral and literate cultures are so inherently different. In an oral culture, which Mcluhan would define as being 'cool', there is an intense interaction between the orator and the audience. As described above the audience actively participates in the creation process. Writing, then, for Mcluhan is a hot medium as there is very high definition of content and the reader is left to fill in very little.

· Patterson, L.R. (1968). Copyright in historical perspective. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press

Some common words found in the essay are:
Walter Ong, Playboy Magazine, Europe Greek, , Writing Mcluhan, Gutenberg Press, Justice Aston, Mayans Meso-America, Gutenberg Galaxy, University Press, ong 1982, playboy magazine, mcluhan playboy magazine, mcluhan 1962, printing press, mcluhan playboy, electronic media, gutenberg press, magazine 1969, havelock 1976, oral culture, playboy magazine 1969, university press ·, known' havelock 1976, 'knower known' havelock,
Approximate Word count = 2474
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)