The big question: which is better? Speaking or writing?

To answer this question, we have to go to the fundamentals. We have to go back and dig deep into not only the history of each, but also what each means. When it all comes down to it, speech came first. It was the basis for all that we recognize now as writing. In the article “the End of literacy? Don’t Stop Reading”, Howard Gardner argues that writing is disappearing in today’s society; I would argue that speech is. Writing has come to dominate our society to the point where face to face communication is almost nonexistent.
At first there was speech, then this new form of technology arose that permitted its users to expand their capacity to hold information. This new technology was writing. The world was never the same after that. It is nearly impossible to go back to such a place where important events, tasks and so forth can not be recorded. Writing was recognized as the most efficient way to retrieve information on command without clogging up vital cranial space. This is possibly the only reason why it is so important that we educate the illiterate. Writing all began with the use of symbols such as tokens that were prehistorically used as a way to transfer goods (Crowley) then, once that was not efficient enough, stone tablets were used as a more permanent form of record. After stone tablets were parchment and the rest is history. It was not until the alphabet was formed that writing completely took over our world. The alphabet opened a whole new door to an untapped form of technology. Not only was writing used as a way to preserve the necessary information, but it was also a form of communication. Writing bridged many gaps because it allowed large groups to learn one basic language that was not as restrictive and could connect it to all situations. Writing has grown into a culture of its own at this point. We now have many different forms of writing that are all understood by the general public.
The newest and most detrimental to the society (although it is very quickly spreading) is the texting language. The amazing thing about texting is that it is so limited to writing that it is almost unbelievable. A phrase like “lol” (laugh out loud) would never be uttered because we can simply laugh, but in the world of texting it is used almost every sentence as a descriptive term. It seems that as a society we have exhausted every other way of writing efficiently that now this grammatically incorrect language has formed. Texting has allowed us to say a paragraph worth in a few combinations of letters and numbers. So when I say that writing is superior in today’s society, it is not to say that it is better. The fact that a day with just non verbal interaction is not impossible shows that we have (as a society) adapted to this new form of technology.
I disagree with Jacoby that our society is not engaging in literary activities. In fact, a slew of blogging sites have proven that is not the case. The problem is, we are not engaging in intellectual literary activities. When an article comes out that says that today’s youth are not read for pleasure, that may not always be the case. Today’s youth are simply using less and less traditionally stimulating forms of literature. If we really want to be technical, we can consider writing on a friend’s Facebook wall a journalistic venture. I think the problem is that our generation’s definition of writing is extremely different than that of older and past generations. It is true that we are no longer spending long summer days in which we discover the author who speaks to us (Gardner) but we have become a society of self educators. We are voicing our thoughts and ideas on paper now (actually on blogger) and this is the new wave of writers.
Of course the writing I am talking about is not nearly as sophisticated or eloquent as a journalist (let’s say) may hope for. It has evolved into this mutant literary form that we are finding now. We have developed so many new types of writing for all situations, such as texting, that it has now become so much easier to confront someone or reveal a secret via AIM than actually opening your mouth and talking. Writing has become our way of staying eternally connected to others.
In my opinion, speech should be the more important/prevalent form of communication in our society but it seems we have evolved past that. I still hold that speech is the truest form of communication because it is very difficult to hide what you are feeling through speech. Writing has given us the chance to censor our thoughts and “sugar coat” our feelings to make them into more “acceptable” things. It has made it so difficult to have a true emotion because we often second guess our thoughts and feelings. We have been told to think before we speak; now it seems we are writing instead of speaking. A world without speech is unimaginable in my opinion but I think we are living in a scripted world. Politicians write and proofread what they are going to say so as to play to the audience. Now, even debates are being written on paper first when honestly, it is supposed to be a portal for passion and thoughts to be expressed on the spot. Writing has become our crutch because it seems to make everything go smoother than just talking. Because of this, I agree with Jacoby when she says that we are dumbing down America.
In the end, although I personally believe that society is headed in the wrong direction because it is relying more on writing than mental capacities; it seems like an inevitable fate. Soon talking to someone will be not only unnecessary, but also ridiculous and the value of face-to-face communication will slowly fade away. On the other hand though, new technologies may form to replace these.