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I've often wondered if digital media is a factor in the way many East Asian countries have closed the gap with Europe when it comes to economic productivity. -

I've often wondered if digital media is a factor in the way many East Asian countries have closed the gap with Europe when it comes to economic productivity. - Phase 1: Before movable type printing press - no strong advantage for either character set - Phase 2: After printing press but before digital media - advantage Latin characters - Phase 3: After digital media - no strong advantage for either character set Phase 2 just happens to line up very neatly with the "great divergence" where Europe surpassed China in technology and economic output. Probably just a coincidence, or, more likely, one small factor among many.

aetherson 4y ago
I think it's a big factor among many. This article spends a lot of time expressing that the Gutenberg printing press was better than Eastern printing presses. That's true. But why was the Gutenberg press better, given that there were eastern printing presses hundreds of years earlier? I think a big part of the answer was that because of the difficulties in printing their languages, there was no big incentive to improve their printing presses. You couldn't look at it and say, "Oh, man, if I could just solve this problem, my fortune would be assured!" And so the technology languished. And the result was, as the article demonstrates, a vast difference in literacy and knowledge storage/transfer in the West. And that's certainly not the only reason why the West diverged from the East, but it's a big factor.
bobthepanda 4y ago
I mean, Japan’s postwar convergence is largely before digital media.
- shipman05 4y ago
  Yes, and that crossed my mind. Japan may be the exception that proves the rule, though. The Meiji Restoration and rapid industrialization of Japan are special cases that, to my knowledge, no other nation in any part of the world was able to replicate.
  - bobthepanda 4y ago
    The other East Asian tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong) also are pre digital. Those took the Japanese model of investing heavily in infrastructure and education.

aetherson 4y ago

I think it's a big factor among many. This article spends a lot of time expressing that the Gutenberg printing press was better than Eastern printing presses. That's true. But why was the Gutenberg press better, given that there were eastern printing presses hundreds of years earlier? I think a big part of the answer was that because of the difficulties in printing their languages, there was no big incentive to improve their printing presses. You couldn't look at it and say, "Oh, man, if I could just solve this problem, my fortune would be assured!" And so the technology languished. And the result was, as the article demonstrates, a vast difference in literacy and knowledge storage/transfer in the West. And that's certainly not the only reason why the West diverged from the East, but it's a big factor.

bobthepanda 4y ago

I mean, Japan’s postwar convergence is largely before digital media.

shipman05 4y ago
Yes, and that crossed my mind. Japan may be the exception that proves the rule, though. The Meiji Restoration and rapid industrialization of Japan are special cases that, to my knowledge, no other nation in any part of the world was able to replicate.
- bobthepanda 4y ago
  The other East Asian tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong) also are pre digital. Those took the Japanese model of investing heavily in infrastructure and education.