If you\u2019re reading this, it must mean that I\u2019m still alive\u2026at least in some artificial intelligence form. Welcome to the Museum of Media Literacy as we rapidly approach the 22nd century, and our exhibit on the history of written, performed, and holographic media. Please adjust your corneal lenses so you can \u201cread\u201d the \u201cmagazine\u201d or \u201ccomputer screen\u201d in front of you clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My name is Brian Collins, and I\u2019ll be your tour guide as we take a fascinating look at an aspect of communication that helps us to identify, analyze, and evaluate the different types of media through the centuries, and, perhaps more importantly, understand the impact they have had, and still continue to have, on the messages they’re sending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a former Show Writer for Walt Disney Imagineering, my job was to write incredible experiences for the company\u2019s theme parks. Many of the techniques I used nearly 100 years ago had not changed since the earliest days of mankind, and many are still being used today. Perhaps the most impactful technique of any is the concept of story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Come with me now, as we travel back 150,000 years BCE, and let\u2019s start at the beginning. The very beginning. Everyone step inside. Our ancestor\u2019s caves weren\u2019t really designed for large groups like ours; I hope nobody is claustrophobic. As you look at the walls around you, you\u2019ll see that as humans, our desire to communicate and tell stories has been evident ever since we began walking upright. Even without a highly developed language, these simple drawings and palm prints allowed the ability to communicate with each other, often because our brains could \u201cconnect the dots\u201d and turn the 2-dimensional images into rich 3-dimensional experiences within our imagination. This, in effect, was where media literacy began, and from here, continued to evolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the cave walls melt away, I\u2019m now taking you to the shores of the Nile river in Egypt. It was here that one of the ancient forms of communication, hieroglyphics, transitioned from stone tablets and walls onto the precursor of paper, papyrus. Humans created inks to write, and soon, for the first time, our thoughts were able to be recorded easily and archived for posterity. It was also during these ancient times that civilizations began creating alphabets and other personalized ways to communicate via the written word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With these new communication methods, media literacy also began to evolve. Now, it was becoming much easier to distribute one\u2019s thoughts, impressions, and stories on a much broader scale, and thus leave them open for much wider interpretation. As a matter of fact, we\u2019re still interpreting ancient hieroglyphics and communicative statues left by our predecessors over 2,000 years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take this small figure I\u2019ve just materialized in front of you. It\u2019s of an Egyptian scribe carved around the time of Haremhab, a military chief who wielded immense power before ruling as a pharaoh from around 1316 to 1302 B.C. As you can see, he is seated cross-legged, holding a papyrus scroll unrolled on his lap. The hieroglyphic inscription engraved on the scroll is easy to interpret–it states his name, Nikare, and his title, scribe, one of the highest offices in ancient Egypt. But as we look closer at the tiny portrait, subtle clues give us more of an idea regarding the intent behind the image: Nikare appears hunched over, as if struggling with the weight of his responsibilities and concerns. We notice slight wrinkles on his face, which is definitely not smiling. This is someone who has lived a long, hard life. He is weary, and it shows in this three-dimensional likeness. At least that is how scholars and Egyptologists have come to interpret it. Speaking of interpretation, let\u2019s all step away from the riverbank, as we\u2019re getting ready to head over to Rome. Did everyone bring their toga?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Okay. It looks like we have everyone with us. Watch your step on the cobblestone streets. With the rise of the Roman Empire, not to mention the major Mayan, Persian, and Asian civilizations, media literacy really started to become \u201ca thing\u201d\u2026 although back then, it certainly wasn\u2019t referred to as media literacy. That wouldn\u2019t come until hundreds of years later\u2026 but don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll get there. What IS important is that over the next 1,500 years or so, humanity would expand the level and breadth of communication like never before. It was with this increased activity and dispersion of the written word that understanding what was being conveyed became so much more important, as it was up to you, as the remote reader to interpret. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Think about it. As these major world empires began to grow and flourish, communicating laws, edicts, religious writings, and other stories became more a matter of interpretation the farther they strayed from their source. In addition, there wasn\u2019t really any way to efficiently duplicate the spoken or written word \u201cin multitudo\u201d, so understanding and interpreting what was being communicated, and how, was often lost in translation as the messages began travelling greater distances. This finally started to change, however, in the early 1400\u2019s, with the invention of the printing press. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just as today\u2019s visual holographic technologies have had a profound impact on communication dissemination, so did Gutenberg\u2019s printing press. As a matter of fact, one can argue that as technology has continued to evolve, so has the process of media literacy. If you don\u2019t agree, you may want to sit down for this next part of the tour, since we\u2019re going to cover a lot of ground as we start to head into the present day. Our first stop\u2014colonial America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Everybody come in close and gather around under this canopy. Sorry for the rainstorm, but I wanted to show you something. It\u2019s June, 1752, and if you look across the way, you\u2019ll see someone you should recognize. That\u2019s right, it\u2019s Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was much more than just a scientist, statesman and a patriot\u2014he was also a proponent of the written word and, almost exactly 20 years earlier than today, he actually founded what many consider to be the Nation\u2019s first public library\u2014the Library Company of Philadelphia. But today, we\u2019ve caught him doing something quite a bit different than reading\u2026 he really IS flying a kite in this thunderstorm to do some experiments on electricity. Franklin\u2019s experiments would help greatly in the advancement of science and technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
From these early, somewhat archaic experiments, civilization would blaze forward and in little more than 150 years, all of the following communication tools and mediums would come to be: the electric telegraph, an improved printing press, typewriters, braille printing, photography, Morse code, fax machines, fiber optics, the telephone, the phonograph, moving pictures, and the radio. If there was ever a need for media literacy, this was it! Interpreting not only written documents, but now entirely new forms of audible and visual communications as well, was becoming even more of a challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, we haven\u2019t even gotten to my favorite part in media literacy history\u2026 the computer age. Let\u2019s pay a visit now to 2066 Crist Drive in Los Altos, California. If you would, please stay off the grass\u2014I\u2019m sure the owners would appreciate it. So here we are, and it\u2019s circa 1976. Pretty unimpressive house, huh? As a matter of fact, you\u2019re probably wondering why I brought you here. Well, inside that unassuming garage is none other than Steve Jobs and his close friend, Steve Wozniak\u2026 and he\u2019s just about to form Apple Computer. Amazing to think that it\u2019s only been less than 90 years since computers became a \u201cthing\u201d and far less when you think about AR\/VR\/XR, and all the offshoots available today, in the year 2026, including the holographic implants you\u2019re experiencing now. As a matter of fact, I bet you can feel the mobile device on the palm of your hand or see the computer screen right in front of you. At least it feels like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This where the whole concept of media literacy starts to get really interesting. As technology progresses, and even intersects with medicine in the form of implants or engineering, will this make it easier to interpret whatever we read, see, or hear? Or will that make it much easier for messages to be deceitful not only without us knowing it, but without even having the chance to know it. This is one reason, I believe, that any discussion of media literacy needs to be followed closely with a discussion of media ethics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Something to think about as you continue your visit here at the museum. We will now disengage you from your virtual tour. Thank you again for visiting with us and have a great rest of the day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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