No longer alphabetized

It started to happen when the Phoenicians showed up in their boats at ports in the Greek islands. They had written down what exactly their boat had carried. They kept track of the costs with written symbols too. There were using an alphabet instead of committing everything to memory. The tradition of oratory was about to be replaced by the authority of printed words.

Once fluid speech could be parsed into fixed letters of the alphabet, everything else could be compartmentalized too. It became conceivable to have classrooms and to study specific subjects. It became necessary to study written words and assume learning had occurred by such focused attention by the eyes and mind. The control of learning, learners, topics and qualifications all made much more sense once the culture shifted from oral to print over the following centuries. Everyone learns to speak fluently and converse with others without schooling. Yet reading and writing did not come naturally to anyone. The use of an alphabet begat the formal instruction of youth. Those select few who graduated from this process were called "Men of Letters".

The "new Phoenicians" came along in the 1800's to replace the tradition of printed words with a return to all things acoustic and oral. They brought the Victrola that played phonograph records. They brought the Marconi wireless that made sounds without being hooked up to the maker of the sound. They brought talking pictures that added soundtracks to movies. They delivered portable radios and tape players. Then came compact discs that could be ripped into MP3 files and shared online, with flash drives or burning a disk. Now we have iPods, podcasts and remixes on YouTube.

When we get more information with our ears, our eyes change also. We no longer assume we have a point of view that comprehends perspective drawings. We no longer focus on small parts of the big picture. We no longer tunnel vision, categorize or block out portions of the panorama. We see panoramically, inclusively and peripherally. We take it all in as experience, rather than as content to be compartmentalized and analyzed. We return to the relational, creative and collaborative communities of pre-alphabetic goddess cultures.

As this change sinks into our times, we will lose our ability to make sense of topics of study, teachers trying to instruct us or experts in position of authority. Alphabet-dudes will be obsolete. We will become post-modern, post industrial and post-literate. We will easily make sense of anyone caring, sharing, giving, contributing, connecting, responding and relating with us. We will be somewhat mystified, bewildered and disoriented by people controlling, coercing or power-tripping us. We will dismiss what doesn't make sense to us and devote ourselves to all things significant, resonant and credible to us.