In this Café, I discuss the refinement of the printing press by Gutenberg in 1436 and its massive impact on the world, including the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and the Thirty Years’ War. I go on to examine the effects of social media on the modern world and ask, “Is this our Gutenberg moment?”
Theme: Our Gutenberg Moment
Format: Knowledge Café
Delivery: Face-to-face, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams
Duration: 120, 90 or 60 minutes
Introduction
This Café is one in a series of Knowledge Cafés on Conversational Leadership that I run face-to-face, on Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
Each Café is themed on material from my online blook on Conversational Leadership.
If you are unfamiliar with the Knowledge Café concept, this event is participatory, though I can run it as a webinar.
Theme
The Gutenberg Revolution
In the history of knowledge, the refinement of the printing press in Germany by Gutenberg in 1436 had a massive impact on the world.
Not only did it help lead to the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment but also the Protestant Reformation which undermined the power of the Catholic Church and in turn, led to the Thirty Years’ War, considered one of the most destructive wars in European history — thought to have claimed between 4 and 12 million lives — maybe 20% of Europe’s population — most from disease and famine.
With the advent of social media, are we experiencing a Second Gutenberg Revolution? For better or for worse, is this Our Gutenberg Moment?
The Enlightenment
Several influences triggered the Enlightenment, but two of the more significant were:
- The invention of Gutenberg’s printing press and the greater availability and reduced cost of books
- The coffeehouses of London and the salons of Paris and Europe.
Books facilitated the dissemination of ideas and knowledge, while coffeehouses and salons served as venues for conversation, fostering the creation of new ideas and knowledge.
Today, a parallel revolution is taking place that may trigger a second Enlightenment.
- The invention of the web has accelerated the sharing of ideas and knowledge on a massive scale.
- Social media has enabled “textual conversations” to take place, and conversational technologies like Zoom, Teams, and Clubhouse have facilitated global audio and video conversations.
Format
In this Café, I talk about the theme for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the participants and the time available, and then pose the Café question
Is this our Gutenberg Moment?
We then go into Café mode.
Reading Material
This post in my blook is optional reading material for the participants before or after the Café.
