What to read to understand the information age

Orality and Literacy by Walter Ong (1982)

This is Walter Ong’s master work, about how writing changes human thinking. Writing lets us follow the steps in an argument, go back and work out whether what’s being said makes sense. Without writing, human minds tend to hold on to what is immediately memorable: larger-than-life characters and heartstring-tugging stories. With short-form video taking over the world, there are good reasons to think we might be losing some of our cool rationality and becoming much more vulnerable to emotive appeals and cartoonish strong-man characters as leaders.

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman (1985)

Neil Postman was a prophet of the new information era. He understood that a glut of information can be as bad as no information at all: searching for the useful needle in a haystack of nonsense can leave you exhausted, anxious and angry. When you read this book, you have to keep reminding yourself that he’s talking about television and Reagan, not the internet and Trump. But Postman is always hopeful – he wants us to reflect on the long search for human knowledge as the great heroic narrative that unites us all.

The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe by Elizabeth Eisenstein (1979)

Elizabeth Eisenstein proved – meticulously, and with great humour and insight – that it was the print revolution that caused the wars of the Reformation. That should be sobering for us: a huge tidal wave of information is destabilising to society for many reasons. She points out that advances in information distribution tend not to discriminate: in the 15th century, it was as easy to get a witch-finding manual printed as serious astronomical observations, with devastating consequences. Given the ease of creating and distributing deepfakes today, Eisenstein’s book makes for essential reading and is a vital warning.

Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today by Naomi Alderman is published on 13 Nov by Fig Tree (£16.99). Order a copy from The Observer Shop for £15.29. Delivery charges may apply

Engraving by Jan Collaert I/Heritage Art/Heritage; Images via Getty Images