Have you ever thought of singing as a technology? 6000 years ago people lived in an oral-aural (spoken-audible) culture where all communication was solely based on spoken word. Later, communication evolved into ideographs (written characters symbolizing ideas), and then into written language. Believe it or not, modern technology as we know it has only been around for 600 years and it all began with singing and storytelling!
In earlier times people learned everything through spoken word. They taught each other basic survival lessons (i.e. how to grow crops, hunt, make shelter, and cook) through oral communication. Their survival was based on remembering what they had learned and committing themselves to learn from their experiences. According to Stanley Baran, author of Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture, people knew each other intimately and relied on one another for survival (19).
Since memorization was of utmost importance, singing and storytelling were established as the earliest forms of communication. This is because people at that time realized that it was easier to remember things of significance through song and story. As a result, they transformed their hunting knowledge, legends, and cultural histories into songs and stories, making it easier to pass down information from generation to generation.
During this time period each person had a specific role to play and everyone else was dependent on that person for that role. The most respected in these communities were the skilled workers (i.e. hunters and farmers), midwives and the elders. The elders held a very important role in the community because they had the role of passing crucial information down to the following generations via storytelling and singing. Baran says, “Roles are clearly defined. Stories teach important cultural lessons and preserve important cultural traditions and values. Control over communication is rarely necessary, but when it is, it is easily achieved” (19). As the storytellers and keepers of history, the elders’ words were highly respected and revered.
Over the next 1000 years after oral-aural cultures were established communication evolved into its next stage—ideographs. Ideographs were ideas in the forms of pictures. During this time people organized pictures to create ideogrammatic (picture-based) alphabets. The earliest forms of ideogrammatic alphabets were first found in Egypt (referred to as hieroglyphics), Sumer (cuneiform), and China. The ideogrammatic alphabets were very complex. According to Baran, “Ideogrammatic alphabets require[d] a huge number of symbols to convey even the simplest idea. Their complexity meant that only a very select few, an intellectual elite, could read or write.” (19). Baran adds that over time, trading with other countries became more popular and necessary.
As communication became increasingly more widespread this created a need for a more precise writing system. As a result the Sumerians created the first syllable alphabet. This is because with ideographs people had to memorize many pictures to convey specific ideas. With the syllable alphabet, people would only use select characters to create phonetic information to convey specific ideas. The creation of a syllable alphabet was a seismic event, leading mankind into a bright future of increasingly efficient communication.
