What is the Fairest One of All?

Throughout the course of Neil Postman's interesting novel, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, Postman stresses the importance of traditional speech and the English Language. He validates the fact that because of different advances in technology, people have abandoned speech and now use other mediums to get their point across. He doesn't completely knock down technology, however.

-"Speech, of course, is the primal and indispensable medium. It made us human, keeps us human, and in fact defines what human means. This is not to say that if there were no other means of communication all humans would find it equally convenient to speak about the same things in the same way." (9)

People all over the globe use different methods of communication- Postman stated so himself. Through Postman's eyes, however, despite all of our 'latest and greatest' devices and technological equipment, there is one that's stands above them all... good old speech. People nowadays use computers and cell phones to instant message or text their friends. Whatever happened to talking to each other; using our mouths. They are there for a reason. When we become addicted to technology, we tend to forget about speech and formal language, and use what is convenient. Despite the fact that Postman believes speech is the best method to get our point across, he does notify that some advances in technology have become beneficial:

-"The information, the content, or, if you will, the 'stuff' that makes up what is called 'the news of the day' did not exist- could not exist- in a world that lacked the media to give it expression. I do not mean that things like fires, wars, murders, and love affairs did not, ever and always, happen in places all over the world. I mean that lacking a technology to advertise them, people could not attend to them, could not include them in their daily business." (9)

So what it comes down to is that we need technology, but at the same time, we also need to hold onto the rules and traditions that govern our language and speech. I personally agree with Postman. We, as humans, need technology to be aware of worldly affairs. We need to know what is going on in the world we live in. But, I simultaneously believe that traditional speech is more important than technology because it keeps us in a stable state of mind. It makes us more intelligent, and it "keeps us human."

Try to imagine a world without traditional speech. Just envision it. What would our world be like? Would we be considered intelligent? Now, picture a world without technology. How would the world as we know it be different? How would we communicate in the event of an emergency to someone who is a few miles away? Now that you have imagined these two different worlds, which type of world would you rather dwell in? Would you rather live without technology, or speech? I personally would rather live in a world of traditional speech instead of technology. I am interested in hearing what you guys think.