The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society
Summary
James Marriott, author of *The New Dark Ages*, argues that the shift from reading to visual media like television and smartphones is eroding Western civilization's capacity for complex thought and objective truth. Drawing on Walter Ong and Marshall McLuhan, he explains how literacy enabled the development of democracy, science, and meritocratic debate, while preliterate cultures relied on emotional, personality-driven persuasion.
Topics discussed
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Introduction to James Marriott and his book
The decline of reading habits in the West
Working class literacy and the Lyceum movement
Walter Ong: Orality vs. Literacy and the mind
Memory, poetry, and the structure of preliterate thought
The 'Agon': Persuasion and truth in preliterate cultures
How literacy enabled science, commerce, and governance
The Gutenberg Press, Protestantism, and the Reading Revolution
Literacy and the rise of modern democracy
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Television's impact on leisure time and culture
Neil Postman: Amusing Ourselves to Death and visual media
Secondary orality and the shift in spoken communication
The smartphone era and the dominance of video
Return to the 'Agon': Emotional and personality-driven debate
The rise of influencers and the faking of reality
The future: The 400-word wall and information inequality
Conclusion and book promotion
Sponsor: Wealthfront
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