Are Information Technologies So Dangerous for Written Culture?

Abstract

One of the factors that determines the current lifestyle is technology, which persistently draws the world into competition for new means and practices. As the subject of these processes, our contemporary not only takes an active part in them, but also reflexes a lot about his/her own impact. Although technology is ambivalent and multivector in its development, the humanitarian role of protecting the history of human experience, as well as creating the updated versions of cultural practices is not alien to it. Inspired by the broad interpretation of the writing practices proposed by J. Derrida, the author of the article shows how important it is for the understanding of technology not to be overloaded with alarmism. Information technologies have a democratizing effect on social life by offering new tools and formats for the writing. In particular, they support on a personal level the freedom of self-realization, while on a public scale — sociocultural diversity and interaction.