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Re:The Tyrrany of Literacy. On oral tradition and what is lost by weregiraffe on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @05:30AM (#45653994)
Nobody has oral history from 7700 years ago.
Re:The Tyrrany of Literacy. On oral tradition and what is lost by grebc on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @05:41AM (#45654044)
Lol seen the homepage of the ABC? (Australian not American broadcaster).
Re:The Tyrrany of Literacy. On oral tradition and what is lost by harvey9 on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @05:51AM (#45654092)
That's a really interesting site. Thanks for the tip.
Re:The Tyrrany of Literacy. On oral tradition and what is lost by ethersteeds on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @01:08PM (#45658344)
I assume you're referring to this?https://www.abc.net.au/news/deeptime/
Re:The Tyrrany of Literacy. On oral tradition and what is lost by carlosjobim on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @07:15AM (#45654506)
Of course they can, why not? The example in the article is really good and perfectly believable.

People at that time would wander around a lot in their everyday life, and it would be very easy to remember these small stories which are connected to the landscape. A father would tell his son when they were walking past this feature of the landscape, and the son would later tell his son and so on.

Why? Because they didn't have cell phones to scroll on while wandering, or a radio to listen to. And they weren't thinking about their mortgage or about primaries. When you live in a world like this, it is very easy to remember a bunch of unusual stories, and when they're connected to the landscape instead of to people, it is almost a guarantee that they will be passed on for generations.

Re:The Tyrrany of Literacy. On oral tradition and what is lost by IAmBroom on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @10:04AM (#45655970)
Because of the game of Telephone.

Humans aren't capable of repeating stories without permutation.

Re:The Tyrrany of Literacy. On oral tradition and what is lost by carlosjobim on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @10:41AM (#45656428)
That applies to the written word as well. You can never guarantee that your modern understanding of what a word means is the same as what the original writer meant.
Re:The Tyrrany of Literacy. On oral tradition and what is lost by suddenlybananas on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @05:37AM (#45654020)
I agree, but the linked article claims otherwise.
Re:The Tyrrany of Literacy. On oral tradition and what is lost by IAmBroom on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @10:05AM (#45655973)
An unprovable assertion, I'll note. So: opinion.