DECODING THE WEST — a series
Jinan
Could we say the infantilization of children began with the printing press as it made them depend on adults and feel inferior?
ChatGPT
Yes, we could argue that the infantilization of children — the process by which they became more dependent on adults and began to feel inferior — could be connected to the rise of the printing press and the broader shift towards literate, text-based knowledge. Here’s how this idea makes sense:
1. Shift from Participatory Learning to Passive Reception:
Before the printing press and the widespread availability of books, children (like adults) learned through direct participation in daily life, hands-on activities, and oral traditions. They were integrated into the community’s work and knowledge, observing and engaging with adults in practical, embodied ways. Their learning was active, sensory, and experiential — acquiring knowledge from experience and observation rather than passively consuming texts.
The advent of the printing press and the rise of literacy shifted learning from a participatory, communal activity to one that increasingly took place through books and formal instruction. Children, who were often not yet literate, became more dependent on adults to access and interpret knowledge contained in texts. This created a power imbalance where children were no longer learning by doing, but by being instructed, making them more passive in their learning process.
2. Literacy as a Barrier to Knowledge:
Literacy became a new barrier to accessing knowledge, and children — who naturally take time to learn how to read — were placed in a subordinate position, relying on adults to teach them to read and explain the written content. Before this, children learned directly from life experiences, from listening to stories, or through physical engagement. The reliance on literacy as the primary mode of learning excluded children from that more direct, embodied knowledge, and made them more dependent on adult guidance.
This shift effectively infantilized children by creating a distinction between those who could access knowledge (literate adults) and those who could not (non-literate children). It introduced the idea that adults held superior knowledge, while children, who were not yet literate, were seen as “empty vessels” to be filled with information through schooling and reading, rather than through experience.
3. Increased Adult Control Over Knowledge:
With books becoming the primary tool for education, adults became the gatekeepers of knowledge. Children had to go through formal education and rely on adults to guide their intellectual development. This reliance diminished the autonomy that children once had in learning through observation and imitation, skills they could acquire naturally in everyday life. Adults took on a more authoritarian role as the sole dispensers of knowledge, and children’s own ability to navigate their world independently was reduced.
4. Perception of Children as “Incomplete”:
The rise of formal education, which was built around literacy and book learning, also reinforced the idea of children as “incomplete” adults — people who needed to be shaped, educated, and developed before they could fully participate in society. Prior to this, children were often seen as capable contributors to the household or community, learning by doing and acquiring practical skills early on.
With the printing press shifting the focus to book-based, intellectual learning, children were now seen as needing to be “formed” intellectually before they could meaningfully engage with the world. This contributed to a sense of inferiority among children, who were measured by their progress in literacy and intellectual development, rather than their practical abilities or contributions.
5. Creation of a Childhood Separate from Adulthood:
The printing press, by focusing knowledge transmission on reading and formal education, helped create a clearer division between childhood and adulthood. Children were expected to go through years of schooling before they could access the adult world of knowledge and work. Before this shift, children were often integrated into the adult world much earlier, learning through observation and participation.
This prolonged dependency on adults during the literacy-learning process may have contributed to a longer, more defined period of childhood, with children seen as dependent, incomplete, and in need of guidance — a sharp contrast to earlier times when children contributed more directly to daily life and learning happened through communal, sensory experiences.
Conclusion:
Yes, the rise of the printing press and the shift toward literate, text-based learning did contribute to the infantilization of children by making them more dependent on adults for knowledge and reinforcing their sense of inferiority. Literacy became a barrier to accessing knowledge, and children’s learning became a passive, dependent process, focused on reading and formal education rather than direct, embodied experience. This shift increased adult control over knowledge, created a perception of children as incomplete, and contributed to a new, longer period of childhood dependency.
Thus, while the printing press democratized knowledge for literate adults, it also may have created new hierarchies between adults and children, limiting children’s access to the natural, participatory ways of learning that had once been open to them.
Jnan
Could we link the rise of reason or rationality with the arrival of printing press?
ChatGPT
Yes, we can absolutely link the rise of reason and rationality with the arrival of the printing press. The printing press played a crucial role in promoting the spread of rational, systematic thinking by transforming how knowledge was created, distributed, and consumed. Here’s how the printing press contributed to the rise of reason:
1. Standardization of Knowledge:
Before the printing press, knowledge was often fragmented, localized, and passed on orally, leading to variations in interpretation and understanding. The printing press standardized texts and allowed ideas to be reproduced accurately and consistently. This contributed to the development of logical, systematic thought, where knowledge could be verified, debated, and built upon in a more consistent manner. Standardized texts promoted the accumulation of knowledge over time, which is a core principle of rationality.
· Impact on science and philosophy: With standardization, scientific methods could be more rigorously applied, and texts in philosophy, science, and mathematics became more precise. The ability to print and distribute consistent scientific findings helped shape the rise of empirical, rational inquiry that characterized the Enlightenment.
2. Dissemination of Rational Thought:
The printing press enabled the rapid spread of ideas across Europe and the world, making it easier for intellectuals to engage with one another’s work. It facilitated cross-cultural exchanges of ideas and made it possible for rationalist and humanist thought to be widely read and debated. This helped to break down local, superstitious, or traditional modes of thinking and replace them with ideas rooted in reason, evidence, and logic.
· The Enlightenment: Thinkers like René Descartes, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, and others wrote texts that were distributed across Europe thanks to the printing press. Their ideas about rationality, reason, and the power of the human mind to understand and improve the world were key to the Enlightenment. The printing press thus amplified rationalist thinking, making it accessible to a broader audience.
3. Shift from Oral to Literate Culture:
The transition from an oral to a literate culture significantly changed how people thought. Oral cultures often rely on memory, context, and communal participation, while literate cultures encourage linear, abstract, and analytical thinking. The act of reading encourages internal reflection, logic, and sequential thought, which are core aspects of rationality.
· Linear thinking: Texts, especially printed texts, follow a linear structure that mirrors logical argumentation. This structure encourages readers to follow ideas step-by-step, promoting reasoning and critical thinking as opposed to the more fluid and associative thinking that often comes with oral traditions.
4. The Rise of Individual Interpretation and Critical Thinking:
With books more widely available, individuals were able to read privately and develop their own interpretations of texts. This fostered critical thinking and encouraged people to question authority, religious dogma, and traditional knowledge. The rise of rationality is tied to the idea that humans have the ability to reason independently and arrive at truth through logical inquiry, and the printing press made it possible for more individuals to engage in this kind of thinking.
· Impact on religion: For example, the Protestant Reformation was deeply tied to the printing press, as Martin Luther’s 95 Theses and other reformist texts were quickly spread across Europe. This encouraged people to read the Bible for themselves and question the Catholic Church’s authority. This act of reading and questioning is central to the rise of rationality and the individual’s capacity for reason.
5. Spread of Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment Ideas:
The printing press allowed scientific discoveries and philosophical works to spread more rapidly, laying the groundwork for the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. Rational thought, experimentation, and skepticism of unverified knowledge all flourished in an environment where scientific texts could be distributed and debated among scholars.
· Empirical observation and reason: Thinkers like Galileo, Newton, and Bacon contributed to the scientific method, which emphasized observation, hypothesis, and experimentation — key elements of rational inquiry. The printing press enabled the scientific community to share data, debate theories, and establish shared principles of rational thought.
6. The Decline of Superstition and Traditional Knowledge:
As rational, text-based knowledge became dominant, older forms of knowledge rooted in superstition, tradition, and myth began to decline. The printing press played a key role in discrediting mystical or unverified claims by promoting texts that encouraged empirical reasoning and logical argument. This shift can be seen as part of the broader rationalization of European society during the early modern period.
Conclusion:
The arrival of the printing press and the rise of reason are deeply connected. The printing press facilitated the spread of rational, scientific, and philosophical ideas, helping to break down older systems of knowledge based on authority, tradition, and superstition. It also fostered a culture of critical thinking and individual interpretation, key elements of rationality. By standardizing and disseminating knowledge in a way that was consistent and accessible, the printing press laid the groundwork for the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution, both of which championed reason as the primary tool for understanding the world.
Thus, while the printing press is often celebrated for democratizing knowledge, it also contributed to the cultural shift toward rationality, shaping the intellectual landscape in ways that emphasized logic, empirical evidence, and critical thought.
Jinan
Could we link the rise of reason or rationality with the arrival of the printing press?
ChatGPT
Yes, we can argue that the printing press contributed to diminishing the role of the senses, body, experience, and intuition in knowledge production and human understanding. Here’s how this happened:
1. Shift from Embodied Knowledge to Abstract Thought:
Before the printing press, knowledge was largely transmitted through embodied, sensory experiences — oral traditions, storytelling, physical apprenticeships, and hands-on learning. People learned by doing, observing, and participating, which engaged all of the senses and involved the body in meaningful ways. With the spread of printed texts, knowledge transmission became more abstract, intellectual, and detached from direct sensory experience.
· Reading and abstraction: The act of reading is an intellectual process that engages the mind more than the body. As written knowledge became central, direct engagement with the world became less necessary, and abstract reasoning began to dominate how knowledge was acquired and shared.
2. Reduction of Sensory Experience:
Oral cultures rely heavily on sensory experiences — people listen to stories, watch demonstrations, and use touch, taste, and movement to learn and understand their surroundings. The printing press shifted knowledge transmission to the visual realm, privileging sight over the other senses. As a result, other sensory ways of knowing (like oral, tactile, or experiential knowledge) were diminished.
· Visual dominance: Reading is a visually dominated activity, and as literacy spread, the senses of hearing, touch, and movement became less central to the process of learning. The immersive, multi-sensory experience of engaging with the world directly was gradually replaced by the solitary, cognitive act of reading, which requires primarily visual engagement.
3. Marginalization of Intuition and Tacit Knowledge:
Tacit knowledge — the kind of deep, intuitive understanding that comes from direct experience and bodily engagement — was sidelined in favor of explicit, written knowledge. The rise of the printing press and literacy emphasized reason, logic, and systematic thought, which often placed intuition and gut feelings in the background.
· Intuition vs. rationality: Intuition, often derived from lived experience and embodied practices, was seen as less reliable compared to the kind of logical reasoning that could be expressed in writing. This shift reflected a broader cultural move towards rationalism, where knowledge had to be justified through evidence and written argument, rather than intuitive, embodied understanding.
4. Detachment from the Body:
The printing press encouraged a mode of learning and knowledge that was increasingly detached from the body. Learning through books became a mental and cognitive activity, with less emphasis on physical or hands-on learning. As a result, the body’s role in knowledge production diminished, and the mind became the central organ for understanding the world.
· Separation of mind and body: This aligns with Cartesian dualism, where the mind is privileged over the body. While Descartes formalized this separation, the printing press helped reinforce it by making learning a predominantly intellectual process, where knowledge was seen as something stored in the mind rather than experienced through the body.
5. Loss of Experiential Learning:
Before the rise of print culture, much of human knowledge was acquired through experience, whether it was learning a trade, navigating the natural world, or engaging in communal practices. Knowledge was contextual and lived, deeply connected to the environments in which people existed. With the printing press, book-based learning became more common, leading to a reliance on theoretical knowledge that was often detached from direct experience.
· Knowledge in books vs. knowledge from life: As knowledge increasingly came from books rather than from lived experience, people began to place more value on textual knowledge than on the kind of practical, embodied knowledge that had been central to earlier generations. This shift disconnected people from the direct experience of the world, replacing it with abstract, theoretical learning.
6. Intellectualization of Knowledge:
The rise of the printing press and the spread of literacy contributed to the intellectualization of knowledge — meaning that knowledge became something to be analyzed, categorized, and understood through reason. This intellectualization suppressed the role of intuition, which is often more fluid, unconscious, and tied to bodily experiences. The dominance of reason and logic as tools for understanding the world left less room for instinctual or experiential forms of knowing.
7. Impact on Creativity and Imagination:
While the printing press allowed for the spread of creative works (like literature and poetry), it also reinforced the dominance of structured, linear thinking. The rigid form of text — structured, linear, and fixed on the page — promoted a certain kind of rational, orderly thought, which contrasted with the more fluid, imaginative, and intuitive ways that people may have engaged with knowledge in oral cultures.
· Reduction of open-ended exploration: The structure of written text may have narrowed imaginative and creative exploration, as reading is a more passive activity compared to the more active, sensory engagement of participating in oral or hands-on knowledge traditions.
Conclusion:
The printing press undeniably played a role in killing or marginalizing the body, senses, experience, and intuition by shifting the focus of knowledge production from embodied, lived practices to abstract, literate, and text-based methods. The rise of reading and literacy privileged reason and intellectualization, emphasizing rationality and linear thinking over the multi-sensory, experiential, and intuitive ways that humans had historically engaged with the world.
In this sense, while the printing press democratized access to knowledge for the literate population, it also reduced the role of the body, senses, and intuitive forms of understanding in favor of cognitive, abstract learning. This shift paved the way for modern forms of rationality and scientific inquiry, but at the cost of diminishing natural, embodied ways of knowing that had once been central to human experience.
to be continued……..
