RE: Have We Entered a Post-Literate Technological Age?

["Al Geist" <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>]

John Rosberg wrote:

"...without meaning to offend, I've always found the "I can't believe
everyone doesn't know what I know" conversations to be just a little smug,
and perhaps inappropriately elitist."

Normally, I would agree with you John, except I do know everything. I am not
smug, nor am I an elitist. I've built houses, so I know plumbing. My Dad was
a journeyman electrician, so I go to know where power came from and what to
do with it at an early age. I grew up on a farm, so I got to learn
everything from welding to shoveling manure as part of life. Am I different?
Yep. You're right in that there are a lot of people that don't know where
that hamburger they just crammed down their gullet came from, or where the
water from their kitchen faucet comes from. Then, in most cases, they don't
have to. All societies, from the first to now, had individuals that
specialized in something so everyone didn't have to know everything. Society
is a living, breathing entities. Just as we have heart muscles, brain
matter, and fingernails, society has plumbers, electricians, computer geeks,
and rocket scientists. Those of us that have had the opportunity to learn
many different crafts may not be the norm, and most of us don't go around
being an elitist. We just have the ability to jump in an help a lot more
people when they ask.

I also believe it helps us be better technical writers, because it helps us
understand the audiences better. Most of us are geeks. A lot of what we
generate is read by non-geeks. 

Al Geist
Technical Communicator, Help, Web Design, Video, Photography
Office/Msg: 802-872-9190
Cell: 802-578-3964
E-mail: al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com
Website: www.geistassociates.com
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