Writ076 Two Reasons

Amanda Callahan

Mobiles and Mobilization: Two Reasons, Final Draft

People depend on social interaction and leadership to govern their lives. They need a ruling or governing class to know what defines scrupulous behavior and to understand morals. People need social interaction and communication to spread their ideas and connect themselves to the world around them. With every new radical change in methods of communication, come shifts in power and social interaction. Technology plays a vital role in determining political strategy and power because it shapes leaders’ method of communicating with the masses. Each revolutionary development in mass communication also changes the way individuals interact with each other and the spread of ideas across cultures and geography.

Historically, communication technology has vastly impacted who controlled the flow of information and the breadth of people who received information. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries C.E., Christianity developed into a dominant power despite its early beginnings as an outcast faith with virtually no influence, and through the Renaissance lost its unquestioned authority both due to changes in communication. Christianity’s rise to power and dominance came largely due to the fact that they used parchment instead of papyrus (which the Roman Empire used) to write on (Deibert). Parchment was more durable and after trading declined with the east Mediterranean states where papyrus came from, was essentially the only available material to write on (Deibert). In addition, it’s estimated up to 90% of the literate population in the Middle Ages were either priests or associated with the church, effectively giving the Roman Catholic Church control over what was and was not preserved in writing (Deibert). For the majority of people who could not read, mass was held, where specific readings promoting the Church’s divinity and power were spread. A major downfall of the Church’s...