Have you heard that the internet is making us stupid? That kids today read and write less than they used to and things like facebook are permanently ruining our society? OMG!
What I find humorous about the backlash against texting is that there is just as much abbreviation and shortening of words in speaking as there is in writing. Shoulda’ Coulda’ Gonna’ Ain’t - While these are not “proper” words (at least if you asked a typical English teacher), the thing about a Linguist is they will recognize that people use those contractions everyday and understand them so therefore they are linguistically sound.
If we think about it, spoken language came before written. Writing was the afterthought. Letters as we know them now are very abstract. Originally though, there was some attempt to make them representative, but by creating an abstract alphabet there is actually more possibilities of combinations. But the important thing is that language existed before writing. Socrates even, regarded writings as a copy of ideas that already exist. Writing’s role is basically as a medium of expressing ideas, and one that is based on the spoken word.
Saussure, being a linguist, understands language is fluid, not fixed by society or time. Words and sounds are abstract and arbitrary representations of the ideas of humans. And because language changes over time, it adapts to the communicative needs of its society. Understanding that, it’s easy to see that new words will enter a language and existing words will change. That kind of change has existed since the existence of language in general.
A linguist would also point out that writing is slower to change than speaking. But what the internet seems to do, is expedite the process some. Now knowledge is available to anyone with an internet connection. The increase in resources also has an affect on how linguists look at language. With the internet there is an infinite amount of possible linguistic data available for study, just as there are many unlimited resources available for those who want to learn. Yet there is this exaggerated hype around this change, and how it’s “ruining us.” To borrow from the editor of the Official Dictionary of Unofficial English:
“It's a natural instinct to be a little, I guess not really frightened but a little frustrated by the language changing around you. You think, I've just mastered this thing. I've just got it down pat, and here you go pulling the rug out from under me yet again. But the thing Morgan that I would say is, you still have the comprehension. You do understand what they're talking about. The forms might vary from what you prefer, but you're still getting the message.”
People who are upset at these new modes of writing - texting, etc. - need to stop and recognize that at its very core, language is arbitrary and will change eventually.
Plato: where does the public converse?
In Plato's Phaedrus, Socrates and Phaedrus discuss themes of love and poetry. I will focus on their conversations about the art of rhetoric and speaking. They each make different arguments about what it means to be a good speaker. For example, Phaedrus argues that a good speaker can persuade, and Socrates responds that a speaker must also know the truth. What sticks out to me however, is the way that Socrates and Phaedrus discuss these ideas through question-and-answer dialectics. What Plato has put together is basically this dialogue between two great thinkers, each trying to persuade the other by questioning their arguments. And through this cross-examination they find truth, in this case regarding the art of speaking.
Deluca and Peeples’ idea that the world has transitioned from a public sphere to a public screen is interesting compared with the dialectics of Soc/Phaed. The idea of public sphere comes from Habermas, who explained that public discussion was done out in the world, in face-to-face contact, in a pubic “arena.” D&P recognize, and want others to recognize, that public communication is now occurring through screens - television, cellphones, computers, etc. And its not that these screens are any less sophisticated, but they are just different modes of communicating.
I think if Socrates was alive today, he would use whichever means there was for dialectics and to continue his pursuit of truth and knowledge. He would host a blog to discuss “the art of internet-rhetoric.” Is it an art? Can it be taught? Is it better to be persuasive or truthful? Also with the transition from sphere to screen, there is increased opportunity for everyone to be involved in the discussions of the time. You don’t have to worry about getting to the right place at the right time; you don’t have to be a professional rhetorician. All you need is an opinion, a site to voice it on, and a screen! LOL!
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