New mediums of transmitting information make different kinds of thought and systems possible. Take governance as an example. A tribal society based on oral tradition is most likely governed by a shared understanding of rules and cultural norms that is determined by the community's elders coming to a consensus. The development of the written word allows this society to develop into one based on written codes of law, *probably* still gatekept by a governing body that came to that consensus and decided to put it down to paper, but now a different type of governing body and system of governance is possible in the first place. [[Amusing Ourselves to Death]]