I recently read a fascinating book called “The Alphabet Versus the Goddess“. The author, Leonard Shlain, is a brain surgeon who proposes that literacy – most specifically the creation of the alphabet – rewired the human brain. It caused a restructuring that favored the left-side of the brain – the linear ‘masculine’ side – at the expense of the holistic, creative right-side of the brain. He uses various examples throughout history to demonstrate that as literacy increased, social equality and tolerance for the arts decreased.
According to Shlain pictorial based languages were not as likely to foster a left-brained, linear approach in the same way as alphabets. He also links the alphabet and a left-brain approach to warring tendencies. For example, the Egyptians used hieroglyphics – a picture based alphabet. Historically the Egyptian culture was more peaceful than their often warring neighbors. China used a pictorial alphabet until quite recently. For the most part they have had a stable and relatively peaceful society. Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism coexisted without much conflict. Then in 1952, Mao Tse-tung imposed alphabetic writing on China. Within a few decades, youthful soldiers carried Mao’s Little Red Book while persecuting their formerly respected elders in what is known as the Great Cultural Revolution.
As I read the book I thought about video and the rise of the visual in general. People often have (and still do) accuse visual media of instigating violence through the perpetuation of violent imagery on TV and in movies. This may be true to a certain extent. But what happens from a neurological perspective as our current generation picks up and begins using video blogging (or whatever other form arises) for expression and communication en masse? I don’t have an answer for this, but if Shlain is correct in his hypothesis it seems that it could lead to a cultural shift toward less violence and more cooperation.
You can check out a video lecture done by the author here.