Tag Archives: Johannes Gutenberg

Frankenstein News

Some call Mary Shelley’s famous novel Frankenstein the first science fiction novel. Her theme is repeated in many later stories. Someone creates a powerful being or force only to see the creation become a weapon of destruction.

The printing press, popularized by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century, was an amazing technological advance. It made possible the creation of reading material cheap enough for ordinary people to buy. All sorts of information became available. Everything from the Bible to new scientific theories to incendiary tracts was produced and consumed.

From that time, ordinary people had access to ideas and to the pleasures of reading. Countless lives have been saved through accessible knowledge.

However, cheap printing also made possible the spread of false information like the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a hoax purporting to prove a Jewish plot to dominate the world. This type of easily accessible lying contributed to the murder of millions in World War II.

The digital age has multiplied the Gutenberg effect many times over. Warnings of hurricanes and other disasters wake us from sleep, pinged from our mobiles. Supreme Court decisions and election results are known instantly.

But anyone with an email account or a twitter handle can spread stories, verified or not, sending them off like so much tree pollen in a spring wind.

Efforts at some kind of control over hate material and outright lying are necessary but have limited success.

In truth, the only controls over this digital flood are we the consumers. We can be tempted by Frankenstein rumors or we can choose trusted sources for our information.

 

Digital Gutenberg

The world was never the same after Johannes Gutenberg rolled off the first printed books in Europe in the 1450’s.

Cheap books, pamphlets, and tracts spread ideas that torched whole societies. Religious reforms followed in their path but also wars and revolutions. Religious persecution reached new heights. Sometimes lunatics raised large followings.

The power brokers, the political and religious leaders, no longer controlled ideas. More people learned to read. Ordinary folks read the Bible in their own tongue, not in the Latin of the elite. Cherished beliefs crumbled. Power struggles ripped apart kingdoms across Europe, creating hordes of refugees.

Yet, when greater stability took hold by the 1700’s, religious tolerance had increased. Though established religions lost influence, many faith-based religious groups gained. They led movements to block the slave trade, set up educational programs for the less well off, and send missionaries to serve native peoples harmed by Europe’s desire for conquest and wealth.

Fast forward to the 1990’s and the 2000’s. The internet and the computer power of tablets and phones have unleashed as much chaos as Gutenberg’s typesets.

But the promise is there, too, as it was in the early modern age for those who accept the changes and work with rather than against them. The world waits for those with enough compassion and self-discipline and courage to lead the way. The potential is there, gleaming among the raw newness that obliterates old ways of doing things.