[Culture] Writing is the only core that can unify and inherit civilization.

Author: JEFFI CHAO HUI WU

Time: July 6, 2025, Sunday, 9:49 AM

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[Culture] Writing is the only core that can unify and inherit civilization.

Text is the only core form of human civilization that can be uniformly inherited.

I have always believed that written language is the only core form that can achieve cross-era, cross-language, and cross-consciousness unity in the transmission of human civilization. No matter which era we are in, what cultural background we come from, or what language system we use, if we are deprived of written language, human history and wisdom will collapse in an instant. We can certainly draw, speak, sing, and record, but all of this, without the precise structure and standards of written language, will ultimately lead to distortion and obliteration.

A simple example: If Einstein had only relied on verbal explanations of relativity or drawn some diagrams without leaving behind the precise expression "E=mc²," could today's physics still stand? How could we possibly bridge the gap of language and time to understand the flash of thought in that moment?

Looking at it from another angle. A mathematical theorem, whether in China, the United States, or Egypt, can be described with pictures, but its meaning can vary greatly due to cultural backgrounds and drawing styles. However, once expressed in words and symbols, such as "a² + b² = c²," we can still interpret it without barriers today, even from ancient civilizations 2000 years ago. This is the power of written language—it is the compressed package of civilization, the smallest coding unit of thought, and the enduring storage structure of human wisdom.

I once flipped through some Chinese poetry magazines from the early 20th century in the library. On those yellowed pages, rows of hand-set lead type printed verses still stir waves in my heart. In contrast, even video works or online audio from just ten years ago become difficult to access and impossible to cite as soon as the format changes or the equipment is updated. Images, audio, and video have never become standard media for the transmission of civilization; they are too easily swayed by emotions and buried by technological advancements.

Some people think that video is more real than text. I say that's wrong. Video captures the "surface," while text can penetrate phenomena and point directly to structure. You see, a video tells a story, and different people interpret it differently; but a piece of text, although it can also have multiple meanings, must be precise, retrievable, and verifiable in legal, scientific, and technical contexts. Moreover, only text can create universally accepted standard documents, technical specifications, legal regulations, and historical records.

More critically, written language has the ability of "cross-language encoding." For example, "Chinese characters" can be translated into English, French, Arabic, and as long as the original text remains, new understandings can continuously emerge. However, video and audio cannot be accurately translated. The expression, tone, speed, and context of an actor's line are difficult to convey accurately into another language. Therefore, language can only cross boundaries through text, while audio and video cannot achieve this.

Let’s look at images again. The charm of images is certainly undeniable, but images lack grammar. You cannot accurately express "If A holds, then B will occur at a rate of C at time D" using images alone. You can draw diagrams to assist in explanation, but the main structure of expression still relies on words. Otherwise, all scientific papers in the world would be illustrated!

Painting, icons, photos, and even emoji expressions all possess emotionality, ambiguity, and subjectivity. However, text can be repeatedly confirmed, scrutinized, reconstructed, and verified. This is the foundational engineering of civilization.

However, after entering the digital age, I have witnessed the extinction of countless precious written materials. Many literary websites, an entire generation of writers' works, and even published electronic documents have been completely erased during server shutdowns, system upgrades, and platform migrations. Without backups, without archives, without paper copies, only a few lines of "page not found" 404 errors remain.

This is what is known as the "digital tsunami"—seemingly an explosion of information, but in reality, a collapse of civilization. Especially in the realm of Chinese online literature, which flourished from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, many authors poured their hearts into uploading hundreds or thousands of original works, yet today not even a trace can be found. Ironically, those works were often not backed up by the authors themselves, as everyone believed at the time that "the internet has memory." What was the result? The internet only selectively remembers, or it is determined by power structures whose words can be preserved.

I clearly remember the names of some forums and literary websites, places where I left countless thoughts, poems, technical notes, and life insights. Some disappeared on a night of system upgrades, while others were wiped clean with a single click after being acquired by capital. Every time there was a "site cleanup," "reorganization," or "redesign," it felt like a silent plunder of human literary civilization.

Some people say it doesn't matter; we can re-record using audio or video. I want to say that is just another disaster. The storage costs for audio and video are higher, the formats update faster, and the reliance on technology is stronger. Will we be able to open today's MP4, MKV, or MOV files decades from now? Moreover, how can we quickly search for a line of poetry in a video? How can we find a technical formula in an audio file? Without a textual index, audio and video are merely bubbles floating in the sea.

In addition, video expression varies from person to person. Each individual's speech rate, tone, facial expressions, and body language are different; even with the same content, distortion and deformation can occur as it is passed from person to person. However, with text, no matter who you are, as long as you write "to review the old and know the new," it embodies Confucius's thought. Only text serves as the true bridge for humanity to transcend identity, voice, appearance, culture, and time.

So, when I see more and more young people unwilling to write, unwilling to read, and only watching short videos, I am truly worried. It’s not that they are lazy, but rather that this era has allowed “quick visuals,” “instant gratification,” and “aesthetic appeal” to overshadow the deeper structures of cultural inheritance. If one day the Earth faces destruction and can only take away one storage device, I hope it contains not videos, not images, but an entire collection of literary classics.

Because only with words can a civilization hope to traverse darkness, transcend disaster, and reach the future.

Source: http://www.australianwinner.com/AuWinner/viewtopic.php?t=696716