Baron 2

In my previous blog entry I stated that people use writing and print to legitimize something, to make something official you sign your name in signature for to show your approval and also to have that as backup because your writing is physically on that piece of paper. But now a new paradigm is coming about and that is that maybe now even something that is physically written down can be untrustworthy. This is an interesting contrast because writing is the norm now to be legitimate information. But when writing was first invented, or still in its infancy, there was an outcry of mistrust with writing. This is shown in many older texts and especially when printing technology was invented, duplication was at another level. And so another level, or an increased level of mistrust in writing and especially print technology was formed. And so the early days of Europe when something was printed it was actually designed to look like illuminated manuscripts to make people have more trust in it. It is a different form of writing and people are slow to adapt to it and to even trust it. They hired artists to design prints that looked like old illuminated texts to make it seem more trustworthy.

This is even the same today as authenticity does not necessarily mean on paper. With today’s technology and its abilities to duplicate, replicate and even change forms is astounding. And so today’s texts are being examined or even produced in multiple layers of anti-duplication techniques. One of the best examples of this is the dollar bill. There are many things on a dollar bill that distinguishes itself from counterfeits. It has multiple layers of information and text to prevent, or hopefully prevent any armature to be able to duplicate that. In this sense, writing is both a gift and a curse. Writing is what makes the dollar bill authentic, but it is also giving a way for counterfeiters.