Corey Maiden- Ong Ch4 p77-82

The section of the book that I presented in class is one that is compelling me to reflect upon it in my blog. There are several points that I feel like I need to mull over in my mind and I think that a blog is a good way to accomplish this. The first point is autonomous discourse. His is the idea that due to the separation of text and author, there is no way to argue back at written word. It simply states what it states and is not open to any criticism, and in another point highlighted later in the text, cannot answer questions that it may bring up. I like the way that the book says this:
“If you ask a text, you get the same, often stupid, words which call for your question in the first place.” (Ong 78)
The thing that seems to keep coming up as an argument against writing is that anyone can write, and anything they write, in today’s culture, is considered truth simply because “the book says”. (Ong 77) I would have to agree with this because over time, knowledge and facts are constantly changing to fit new context and conform to new information and ideologies. This is necessary adaptation for knowledge to remain applicable. This is why, in my opinion, early texts like the Bible are written in a more metaphoric way, because this allows them to keep their general teachings of morality, and have them stay relevant throughout centuries of time.
Another thing that got my wheels turning in this section is the title of the chapter, which is “Writing Restructures Consciousness”. This is kind of a mind boggling concept in the way that a person can only know one type of thought structure intimately. The idea that people of oral culture can think in a completely different context than me is difficult for me to understand, but it does make sense. I can’t imagine thinking without the structure of complete sentences and thoughts. I’m not sure if this is a help or hindrance in the pursuit of whatever philosophical enlightenment people search for in life, but it would make sense that someone who’s thought was not structured by writing, but by life- teaching would have a better grasp and more open outlook in this search.