The Invention of Writing

Many scholars regard writing to be one of the most prominent and important inventions of people. Some scholars postulate that writing originated as a single form of archaic graphical representation of ideas that developed to differentiated letter systems around different parts of the world. This idea maintains that the very first form of writing emerged as pictorial images, which underwent development throughout the ancient civilizations into complex writings to suit different languages. However, this theory does not account for the considerable differences that exist among modern day languages (Glassner 32).

The proposition that writing developed in different version from independent graphical forms seems to be most sensible. Furthermore, the fact that writing developed in different continents far apart at the time of the development supports this proposition. Considering that human beings naturally use physical expressions and symbols while communicating, it is inevitable that a form of static expressions for these symbols and movement expressions required establishment. These expressions were independent of the location of the societies in which they have developed or the proximity of the societies to each other. The evidence of writing is found in America, Asia, Europe and Africa, where civilizations have existed independently without any known form of interaction among them (Glassner 35).

Writing is rather a development of the natural mode of communication of human beings than an invention. Even if today’s world societies were completely separate from the emergence of the Homo sapiens, different forms of writing would still emerge from the different societies. Writing cannot take credit for the modern technology revolution, but it was rather a development out of necessity for use with the ever-changing technology. Some history experts argue that writing has developed just as the way in which language and talking appeared without any kind of invention. They postulate that later interactions made different styles of writing seem like inventions, which was not the case.

 Some scholars propose that writing was a form of revolution that triggered other subsequent series of developments. Furthermore, the scholars support their theory with the fact that writing developed in a society at a certain point in the technological revolution and social advancement. However, the logical nature of languages dispute that the development of language is a revolution (Hamilton 45). Languages follow a certain logical pattern that cannot be deviate to a significant degree. This logic contributes to the development of a harmonic structure of writing based on the existing language. Logic rather than an inherited invention is the source of all forms of writing. In addition, technological developments necessitated the development of the early forms of writing. Thus, writing was appeared because of the technology, but not the vice versa.

The classical view that writing revolutionized communication is not accurate. It is only that writing became necessary at a certain point in the development of communication. The fact that languages emerged at different times in different parts of the world supports the theory. In Sumer, it emerged as a form of symbolic representation known as cuneiform. In Egypt, writing emerged as a hieroglyphics, a special form of symbolic representation. Various forms of logical symbols were distinct depending on the social civilization from which the first emerged.

Although writing was introduced to some civilizations as a new technology from foreign civilizations, it should be regarded as a spread rather than an invention, since it was not invented by any single entity in the land of origin. Traders and explorers from Egypt or ancient Mesopotamia spread writing by oriental communities in the Far East. The people of Mesopotamia and Egypt had gradually developed the art of writing from other basic forms f symbolic drawings (Martin 68).

An assumption by scholars that writing emerged during the age of technological development is disapproved by the fact that archaic forms of writing had existed in independent societies millennia before, but were stagnated for a long time.

The fact that writing developed in different alphabets in diverse societies even in their modern form proves that writing has developed independently as a necessity rather than an invention or discovery. Arabic, Chinese, and the Roman alphabets display distinctiveness owing to their unique origins. Some early forms of symbolic writing are also a subject of dispute pertaining to their origin. Discoveries of impressions on stone and animal shells indicate that some of the inscriptions that scientists claim to be invention of writing are not actually true writing. This is because the impressions do not relate to any modern form of writing. Observation that eliminates chances of the markings has been a stage of the development of a language (Man 15).

The natural orientation of the human being to symbolic communication seems to be present in all human beings such that it is obviously a form of writing was bound to develop in various civilizations. The evidence of the diversity of writing styles indicates a slow development rather than a spontaneous development. The fact that even the current writing styles are still developing supports this observation.

 In some societies, the need to do accounting in various activities necessitated the development of writing styles. This proposition advocates for the view that writing developed due to logical economics (Senner 81). Furthermore, this view supplements the common opinion that writing resulted from the need to represent certain technological aspects in a symbolic manner. Generally, one can conclude that writing is a gradual metamorphosis of symbolic art rather that a purposeful invention.