Communication technology and the production of knowledge

This book takes up some of the same themes as “The Impact of Communication Technology on Public Experience” in the earlier sections. The transition from a pre-literature culture whose knowledge consists of remembered stories to one where knowledge is stored in a structure of written words serves to facilitate large organizations such as government.

A moral critique of government takes place when thoughtful persons write down their ideas about improving society and are widely read. So, too, the technologies of printing and of electronic recording and broadcasting give rise to new institutions utilizing their communication, whether in business, education, or entertainment.

A new theme in this book is how people’s ideas about truth and knowledge have changed during this process. Plato wanted to distinguish between truth and mere opinion. Philosophy promised to deliver certain knowledge through the correct delineation of generalities.

Today, however, we believe in empirical science. We believe that truth comes from studying the world rather than abstract ideas. There is, at any time, a notion of the most advanced techniques of acquiring knowledge. This book shows how such notions change with the different epochs of world history.