Once upon a time, the television channel A&E, which stands for Arts & Entertainment, was not a steaming pile of fly-covered feces. It had great investigative and history programming before they realized that “reality” TV was cheap and easy and therefore more profitable. One program I remember had a countdown of the 100 most influential people in history, and #1 on that list was Johannes Gutenberg.
--On This Day in History Shit Went Down: February 23, 1455--
My wife and I watched the show. We were able to predict several of the top 10. When it came to “who is number 1?” we were mystified, but as soon as they said his name we went “Ooooh yeeeeaaaahhh.” Gutenberg was born around 1400 in the city of Mainz in present-day Germany. Little is known of his early life, but when he was around 37 his name got mentioned in court documents regarding a broken marriage promise. Knowing what I do of the time, perhaps he slept with her while engaged then decided to break it off, which was considered practically criminal.
It was around 1440 that he perfected the movable type printing press, but it would be another 10 years before it was put into operation. It is likely that the first thing to be mass printed was a German poem. He raised investment funds and on February 23, 1455 printed what became known as the Gutenberg Bible, making a mere 180 copies.
The importance of creating the world’s first printing press cannot be overstated. Prior to this, books needed to be copied by hand, which was slow, expensive, and prone to error. Gutenberg’s technology is what gradually brought reading to the masses, and played a pivotal role in the Protestant Reformation, the Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution. Except, Gutenberg wasn’t actually first. A form of moveable type printing press was first created in Korea two centuries previous by Choe Yun-ui, but for a number of reasons the invention didn’t catch in Asia. Gutenberg’s version is the one that changed the world.
Prior to Gutenberg’s invention, literacy and education were for the elite. This was a turning point that transformed society and led to our rapid growth in learning. It was a critical step in bringing an end to the so-called Dark Ages and accelerating progress toward a more enlightened time.
Looking at recent fuckery, there is still much work to be done, but trust me that things are better now even with the growth of fascist websites spreading misinformation than they were during a time when 99% of the population was doomed to a life of ignorance.
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It does feel so much better to live at a time when ignorance is by choice! :)
I assume everyone who reads you easily decodes sarcasm.
If you're interested in this sort of thing, I highly recommend "The Book" by Keith Houston. It traces the history of writing shit down from when books were in the form of scrolls, to the development of the codex (what we call "books"), paper making, book construction in different cultures, and of course the printing press and it's explosive impact on society. "Shady Characters" by Houston is also an excellent read.