Ong Part 1

The concept of a strictly oral culture is something that is very difficult for me to fully comprehend. I feel like written word is so vital to the world that I live in. In our culture, we often prefer to write something than have to speak it aloud. If my friends want to hang out, I will get a text message, as opposed to a phone call. If there are words present, we tend to automatically read them. I always complain if someone turns on the subtitles to a movie already in english. I get so distracted, that I read the movie instead of watching it. I can't imagine a life where I was unable to read the words around me. I've never been to another country, so I've never even experienced being surrounded by a foreign language. When I chose a language to study, I took American Sign Language, so even there, I never had to learn to read a new language. I don't really remember the process of learning to read, other than being confused on why the word city was not pronounced like kitty.

In the book, it talked about the way we describe things as a literate culture compared to the illiterate. I'm still a bit confused, and maybe because it's such a foreign concept, on why just our descriptions of something would be so different. I'm not sure how to describe something as difficult as a car to someone who has idea of what it is. The part that struck me as the most strange is on page 52. "Precious metals do not rust. Gold is a precious metal. Does it rust or not?" (Ong) To me, the obvious answer is no. It is a if, then, statement. If precious metals do not rust, and gold is a precious metal, then no, gold would not rust. The illiterate questioned, had more questions, basically repeating the original question asked. What is it that makes the answer to the question different through literacy? Maybe through this class, and the continued reading of this book, I can't get more of an answer to that question.