Annales School of History

Birkerts provides three effects that will occur as a result of moving away from the printed word to the electronic media. The first effect is the language erosion. He explains the reader that transition from books will lead to the “complexity and distinctiveness of verbal and written communication, which are deeply bound to transaction of print literacy, will gradually be replaced by a more telegraphic sort of plainspeak” (9). In the future our language will start to become more simple and dumb. Whereas, by reading books and printed materials people are able to dig more depth and understand and imagine the contents. But, soon this will start to disappear as people will no longer be able to understand the complex language of the literature and intelligence level of people will start to decrease. The second effect of electronic media is the flattening of historical perspectives. This means that due to the electronic media the history will start to recede because the “printed page itself is a link” and when this link is broken the past will gradually diminish (10). Birkerts explains the audience that the past is best represented in the books and libraries. Therefore, moving away from the printed word means moving away from the past and its history. The last effect is the waning of the private self. Birkerts worries that in the future people will forget how to live because of the electronic

This paper deals with ways history can be interpreted and influences different interpretations have on society and individuals. This is explored through

Why is history important? It is both necessary and helpful to the study the context of prior history because it reveals who we are in relation to other people, cultures, and countries. History influences the way people can process information viewed from other races, and cultures, and even speak, “The old saying is, if we don’t know where we came from then we don’t know where we are going.” By studying history we can take what others’ have done and build on it.

In the article, “The Future Is Now: It’s Heading Right at Us, But We Never See It Coming”, Joel Achenbach speculates that major advancements are not displayed in the media, discussed by important figures, nor anticipated by the general public; The events taking place are not acknowledged until they are actively making a difference in society. According to Achenbach, the majority of us are oblivious to science and technological advancement, two major development advocates, due to the discourse involved. Most of us have a generalized perception of what is behind major changes in society, and are intimidated by the intellectual process that occurs beforehand. Achenbach then explains how we overlooked a worldwide phenomenon such as the internet.

In this essay Carr explains thoroughly how things have changed over time, he provides examples that directly correlate the transition from modern day society to a time before technology was prominent before today. His noted efforts show the attention to detail he implemented into his writing to ensure it suited his audience and his purpose. The impact of Carr’s essay on readers can be attributed to his use of simple language and vocabulary along with direct and prominent examples. The language and text he used made it easy for a reader to stay tuned for the entire essay and also feel involved in

Over history technology has changed mankind’s overall culture. From clocks to computers the use of electronics and tools is occurring every day in almost all situations. In Carr’s article “Is Google Making us Stupid?” he introduces the idea how the internet is changing our lives by making us mentally process information differently from the past, based off previous changes in history. Carr explains how we think less deeply and rely on quick facts, versus using critical thinking and research. Also he explains how our brain is malleable, and may be changed by the internet’s impression. Lastly Carr talks about what the

Christian envisioned the periodization of world history like a puzzle and the pieces of the puzzle were the theoretical, organizational, ethical, and technical problems of the periodization. Christian was able to solve the problems of the periodization of world history, since his “organizational aspects of all periodization systems moderately well in its first and third eras” (104). This is valid since the author arranges the book in chronological order by providing the reader with a list of main events in a chart (Era of Foragers- page 2, The Agrarian Era- page 26, The Modern Era- page 59) which allows the reader to know understand the sequences of each era. Also, he provides the readers a glimpse of the main ideas to help the readers understand a specific time period. To illustrate, “Explaining the Modern Revolution” on pages 64-67 “explains why rates of innovation have risen so fast during the modern era” which includes Accumulated Changes of the Agrarian Era, Rise of Commercial Societies, and Development of a Single Global Network. As mentioned on page 98, periodization problems appear because world historians have difficulty choosing what are the important

What if Tiananmen Square’s “Tank Man” had a Twitter account? What if Che Guevara had a Blackberry? What if Napoleon had 20,000 Facebook friends? What if Romeo and Juliet could text? What if Lila Crane had read a review of the Bates Motel on TripAdvisor? What if a laptop could generate an answer to this question? Does technology change the course of history, or is that what people do? Write an essay developing your own argument about the larger effects of social media.

Time proceeds its infinite journey we mark great developments commemorating the discoveries and changes that have led to our modern day world. Many new developments we sought to exist shape our world through acceptance and creativity. Beneath all this humanity, the 17th and 18th century signifies an important period that influenced many others, the French revolution. This was the time the French gained control of their rights and went against absolute monarchy. These unconventional approaches lead to many positive uprisings yet downfalls as well. Consequently, as many new discoveries had been born, people gained a new, secular perspective of the world, allowing them to realize their desire for change. This change, known as the French Revolution and numerous reasons caused this significant event in history such as the social and political conflicts of the Old Regime, financial difficulties and deficit spending of King Louis, and the influence in philosophers of the American Revolution in France.

When analyzing these articles, one must first consider the dates of publication. In relation to the present, Postman was writing pre-internet and Chaffee and Metzger were worried about what high-speed would do to dial-up. Both articles had keen insight into the future, but failed to anticipate the birth and widespread nature of smartphones and artificial intelligence technologies. Their criticisms might address deindividuation, the digital divide, or tailored information based on Big Data rather than entertainment versus enlightenment. The setting of

The 20th century has witnessed dramatic developments in the history of media communications as well as human society. During the first half of the last century, electronic media such as the telegraph, radio and television to name a few were invented and became prevalent. Afterwards, the internet came into being and developed at an unprecedented rate to the point where it is now widely accepted that human history has entered into an information age. As claimed by a number of scholars, the appearance of new types of media can bring about dramatic influences on living conditions. Among them, Harold Innis, pioneer in this area of communication studies, is influential, firstly by employing two dimensions to media, namely time and space, and

Throughout this essay I will be discussing how the digital age has transformed society in many ways. The digital age also known as the information age, is the evolution of technology in daily life and social organizations have led to the fact that the modernization of information and communication processes has become the driving force of social evolution.” This is a time period in which we live in now where Internet and email are available; this is an example of the digital age. The Information Age is the idea that access to and the control of information is the defining characteristic of this current era in human civilization.

Today, the world is much different than it was fifteen years ago, much less fifty years ago. The progression of technology has been even more significant than ever before in the last several years, but has ultimately lead us astray from our core character. The production of cell phones, social media updates, websites, and technological tools is constant, but these new and improved technologies have left the world with very few longstanding advancements. Though the internet has brought the world innumerable innovative opportunities, life before technology was much more efficient, filled with many more promising benefits: responsibility, socialization skills, and controversy.

What is History? This is the question posed by historian E.H. Carr in his study of historiography. Carr debates the ongoing argument which historians have challenged for years, on the possibility that history could be neutral. In his book he discusses the link between historical facts and the historians themselves. Carr argues that history cannot be objective or unbiased, as for it to become history, knowledge of the past has been processed by the historian through interpretation and evaluation. He argues that it is the necessary interpretations which mean personal biases whether intentional or not, define what we see as history. A main point of the chapter is that historians select the facts they think are significant which ultimately

Time and progression are usually concepts that are found to work in unison, and this connection is profoundly present in the development of technology. Human advancements in the creation of life altering machinery has taken leaps and bounds in terms of how it has altered society, yet one has to consider the effects these developments have on already existing methods of a functioning civilization. One example of this phenomenon is the expansion of journalism from a closely knit field providing the news to an entirely open platform, via the internet, offering anyone the chance to spread information with previously unheard of haste. Attempting to impede the ever extending hand of change is an impossible task; however, it leads to an interesting argument about the impact of information sharing—particularly concerning journalism—now that there is such a readily available line of communication that can reach near anywhere in the world. As knowledge now resides a few button clicks away it brings about speculation considering integrity of the author and information that are presented, both of which seem to have been further diminished by the vast range of who can offer news in this modern digital age.