Some thoughts...Ong- Chapter 4

When I read Ong, I find it similar to reading Northrop Frye. While Ong makes some very interesting and important points I do not always understand what exactly he is saying. That, I guess, can be kind of fun! I really enjoy reading Ong, even though many times I only catch pieces of what he is trying to get across. One thing that stuck with me was what Ong considered to be a literate human being: "beings whose thought processes do not grow out of simply natural powers..." (Page 77).
One frightening idea that Ong addresses is that of death and its connection to writing. Plato associates death with writing because he consideres it "inhuman" and finds "that it destroys memory". The image of a dead flower is now engrained in my mind...it is an image of a dead rose, once a deep red lying on an old wooden desk next to a piece of parchment and an ink pen...ink splatterded on the blank paper. This I would consider grotesque and downright depressing.
Ong also believes that technology is not necessarily dehumanizing but that it can give life to the human spirit and teach. While this is true I still see the association with technology and loss. While so much is gained, so much is also lost. What is lost exactly? Writing letters and mailing them, sending pictures in the mail, walking to a friends house to see if they can get together...now we can just text and meet somewhere! While all of this is so convenient and exciting, it teaches us so much but also takes away from these things that seemed so "traditional". Even writing though is considered a technology. It is a technology I have come to love. Journalism is what I would love to do and personal journaling is something I take joy in each and every day. It is the act of writing that helps me get out what I am thinking, while helping me to remember certain things. While sometimes it is helpful to remember, sometimes I do not want to. One last thing that I was just thinking of: Sometimes something that happened, was said, or learned will be remembered no matter how hard you try to forget it. Sometimes without writing it down it is still remembered- not as word on a page but as an image in your memory. I have found this to be true- especially lately and my own memory has been astounding me. What I am getting at is- the smile on my nieces face whenever I return home can't be written down or converyed even orally. It is an image only I can carry with me in my mind.