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08264_Field_TCGG T29.txt
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1996-04-10
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It is Popper’s view that tribal or closed societies have a
biological unity and that “our modern open societies function
largely by way of abstract relations, such as exchange or co-
operation.” That the abstracting or opening of closed societies
is the work of the phonetic alphabet, and not of any other form
of writing or technology, is one theme of The Gutenberg Galaxy .
On the other hand, that closed societies are the product of
speech, drum, and ear technologies, brings us at the opening of
the electronic age to the sealing of the entire human family into
a single global tribe. And this electronic revolution is only less
confusing for men of the open societies than the revolution of
phonetic literacy which stripped and streamlined the old tribal
or closed societies. Popper offers no analysis of the causes of
such change, but he does give (p. 172) a description of the
situation that is very relevant to The Gutenberg Galaxy :