Blog 1 on Borgmann and Illich

I think these two readings reveal a technology many of us take for granted and may not even realize is a technology. The invention of letters, words, all the way up to the book was a major advancement of the human condition. It gave humans a way to communicate at a new level, not only could we communicate with more individuals but this technology allowed us to communicate with the future. Historical philosophers and other writers I bet never could have imagined their works would be read so far into the distant future to them. I'm sure Aristotle, Plato, the Bible writers, this country's forefathers, or Charles Darwin never thought audiences would read their ideas so long after their death had passed. Letters, words, books gave these writers a way to do this and in doing so leaving their mark on the rest of humanity that they outherwise would have been incapable of doing. With the invention of letters, words, and then books, humanity was changed forever.