The Lord of All New Beginnings
The first thought I had when I conceived the idea of writing on the evolution of writing was of Lord Ganesha transcribing Vyasa’s powerful storytelling and the speed of his narration of the epic Mahabharata. Ganesha’s condition of non-stop recitation from Vyasa was matched by Vyasa’s insistence that Ganesha must comprehend each phrase before putting it down in writing. What this tells us is that knowledge requires deep comprehension, and writing is the medium between thought and action. The breaking of the quill and the alacrity with which it was replaced by his tusk are indicative of the great personal sacrifice needed to gain wisdom.
The biblical account of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God—“And he wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments,” is indicative of the permanence and immutability of written dictation.
The compilation of the Quran took several years, with Prophet Mohammed reciting the verses to his followers, who memorized the words and wrote the holy scriptures.
Faith is divine, and writing is an important form of expression.
Before you start wondering why I am testing your patience with the history of written communication, let me assure you that I am fascinated by the fact that it took millions of years to come to the stage where thinkers, authors, and poets understood that the pen is much more than an accessory. It is a powerful expression of thoughts, ideas, and actions that has the capability of mesmerizing humans across the universe.
Now, let’s get to the passion of the pen.
The Art and Craft of the Written Word
“A pen is an instrument of discovery rather than just a recording implement.”
—Virginia Woolf
Millions of years ago, our ancestors etched symbols and pictures inside caves to communicate and convey stories of their era. Later, graphics and pictures pressed into clay moulds and baked were probably used by merchants as a means of trade conversation.
The first form of transferring thoughts and ideas into words revolutionized the way humans communicated with each other via pictographs and alphabets, demonstrating that humans could preserve and share thoughts with others across the universe. The quill, the fountain pen, pencil, and paper were much more than inventions—they represented a form of democracy where anyone and everyone could share thoughts and knowledge. Letter writing became a form of personal expression, and poets and writers changed the concept of communication to an art form as well as a transfer of experience and knowledge. The expression “The pen is mightier than the sword,” that we consider a cliché today, had litterateurs beaming and warriors wondering.
The Digital Transformation
Manual typewriters were upgraded to electronic versions, and stenography with its redlined book became an important aspect of business communication. The PC came along, and Word, Excel, and PowerPoint replaced physical drafting. Computers changed the very nature of writing, and sadly, the blotting paper and strike-through with the pen passed into oblivion. Writing aligned with word processing, email, and instant messages, adding value to the medium of communication. Thankfully, what did not change was our need to record our thoughts.
Intelligence Is Naturally AI
We now stand at another threshold in the evolution of writing. AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, CoPilot and GPT-4 can generate text, help in content writing, and even imitate writing styles. William Shakespeare or Arthur Conan Doyle? Just tell your friendly virtual neighbor.
Specialized writing assistance, for example, for legal and healthcare documentation with the help of AI, has dramatically improved proficiency and quality. But AI does not take away the innate ability of your mind—and heart—to continue the same purpose as millions of centuries back. Rather than diminishing human writing, this may elevate it to new heights. Mathematics is still a sought-after science, decades after calculators and computers. Short text and image writing thrives on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok. That little brain in AI has taken multitasking to another level with the integration of text, audio, and video, reimagining writing in the digital age.
No Limits, Only Endless Possibilities
In our lives, revolutions have been many—some that have taken our breath away and many that have made life easier and improved our capabilities. The Industrial Revolution, Digital Revolution, India’s own Agricultural Revolution, and Operation Flood are a few examples. Equally, the development of the human race, economic, political, social, and cultural movements, urbanization, and globalization are evolutionary changes. Both result in benefits for humankind, with a better quality of life and ease of living.
While technology has continuously transformed how we process, store, and retrieve information, recent developments like Artificial Intelligence mark a generational shift in how we create, store, and recall text and photographs. Yet, the magic of writing never ceases to resonate with the heart and mind.
Omar Khayyam, the Persian poet and astronomer, captures the beauty and elegance of the written word in a philosophical manner, telling us that our words exist permanently and our writing becomes history in some form and is part of a permanent human conversation.
“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”
—Khayyám, O. (1859). The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (E. FitzGerald, Trans.)
This article is based on my reading and research using information on websites related to the history and evolution of writing systems.
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By
Mr V Krishnan
Covai S3 Retirement Community