Printing and its Impact on Society

Much of the knowledge of the past was limited to memories of personal experience. It was a world without facts. Experience was what mattered most and power lied with the elders who were highly respected. There were only few with a written language. The first writings were very expensive, time consuming and laborious. Few common people had the time or the inclination to become literate and even if they were able to read the cost …

…to societies not touched by literacy. Marshall McLuhan believes that the consequences of print goes beyond the information it transmits. He believes the reading of printed word makes people think in sequence and produces an egocentric view of the world because reading is solitary and private and produces a single point of view. Social consequences include Newtonian view of the universe, employment of fixed prices for business transactions and the "detribalization" of society, McLuhan believes.