Final: So long, Farewell

Knowledge institutions build upon each other. Each plays a different role in molding the human experience. You need them all to gain the ultimate human experience. Yet despite the necessity of every type of knowledge institution, the tradition with the most powerful effect on human emotion is oral knowledge.

All types of knowledge are necessary, because each has its own advantages. Folk knowledge is the form of knowledge in which authority cannot interfere. It is a public, collaborative experience. You can gain from the experience of others and one person can spread their knowledge to help their community. For example, Brenda was telling me how one of her friends brought a recycling program to her town. One person can make a huge impact on their community.

Written knowledge is important because it yields consistency. It is longer lasting that oral knowledge; it can be preserved. There is a certain economy about writing systems (for more information, see Jared’s post about how the medium affects the subject of the writing). There is a certain trust that comes with the written word—you can track where it comes from.

Print knowledge is very useful. It makes knowledge more widely available. It allows self-directed learning, very important especially for this class. The most important thing about printed knowledge is that is allows a large amount of information to be spread across a wide variety of people very quickly. One historically significant example of this is Martin Luther spreading his ideas with the printing press, jumpstarting the Protestant Revolution.

Oral knowledge is ineffective because there is no preservation. If a population is destroyed, all oral knowledge is lost. For example, Andrew was telling me about how the knowledge of concrete- making died with the Romans. Since it was common knowledge, no one bothered to write it down, so when they died, it was lost.

All the knowledge systems have their uses; however, the most important to influence human emotion is oral knowledge. Each institution has its benefits, but also has its drawbacks. In influencing human emotion, the cons outweigh the pros for all but oral knowledge. Though no knowledge institution will or should ever become obsolete, for a more powerful emotional response, oral knowledge will always be the most important by far.

Though folk knowledge is closely related to oral knowledge, oral knowledge is truly more effective. Folk knowledge is a community collaboration of knowledge, the impact is truly minimal. You can bring recycling to your town, but could you bring it to an entire city? Folk knowledge is a very linear knowledge institution; ideas and thoughts are passed directly from one person to another. There isn’t as much of an emotional connection as comes with oral knowledge.

Written and printed knowledge are both ineffective for touching human emotion. The words march across the page, devoid of any of the subtleties and nuances that are in the human voice. The author, unlike a speaker, cannot gauge the audience's response and reciprocate that. The written word is unchanging. Consistent, yet somehow lacking the life infused in an oration.

Oral knowledge has the most powerful effect on human emotion. The sound of the speaker's voice provides sincerity and life to the otherwise empty words. The drama of oral far outweighs anything written. That is why we have General Conference. The General Authorities could just write talks and publish them in the Church magazines, but they speak to us directly. With oral knowledge, you can feel the power and conviction in someone's words. The moment is what impacts emotion. Oral knowledge impacts emotional responses more greatly than any other type of knowledge institution because oral knowledge allows nuances of speaking, spontaneity, and the "in the moment" occurrence that provides the emotional human experience.