X Docs

Paper: The Technology That Built Civilization


Listen Later

A page is nothing but bullied plants that learned to hold their shape. They hold your thoughts too,which is a fun insult to human pride.Paper is receipts. A civilization without receipts is a festival until the food runs out.■ WHAT THIS VIDEO COVERS:• Why paper beat parchment (money, weight, speed, and how ink hugs it)• How cheap drafts made better results — everywhere• The margin note as civilization saying "try again" to itself• Why accountants are the wheels under the cart• Paper money: the ugly miracle• Why "make more copies than you think you need" is a religion worth keeping• The partnership between paper and patience that built the lab■■ TIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Bullied Plants00:21 - Building Material for Minds00:43 - Paper Spreads01:10 - The First Mills01:33 - Books Changed01:54 - Margin Notes: Civilization Talking to Itself02:16 - Paper Carried Numbers02:37 - Governments Loved Paper03:02 - Maps Grew Up03:32 - Education Changed Shape03:57 - Artists Notice04:18 - Respect the Millers04:39 - The Genius and the Paper Worker05:06 - Paper Was Not Saintly05:31 - The Spread to Europe05:54 - Press + Paper = Revolution06:20 - Footnotes Are Public Receipts06:49 - Paper Money07:10 - Small Mercies: Letters07:32 - The Downsides: Fire, Flood, Bugs07:55 - Redundancy Is a Religion08:20 - Chemistry Matters08:43 - Why Paper Beat Parchment09:07 - Big Names Paper Carried09:37 - A Time Machine at Room Temperature09:59 - Teachers Use Paper10:22 - Paper Enabled Science10:47 - Paper Licenses the Small Mind11:06 - Did Paper End Superstition?11:29 - Trust in Symbols11:51 - Digital Did Not Kill Paper12:13 - The Greatest Gift12:35 - Honor Paper: Build a Notebook12:59 - Courage at Scale13:23 - Memory Is a Leaky Roof13:45 - The Final Rule■ THE CORE LESSON:"The greatest gift of paper is how it makes thought cheap to try and cheap to keep."■ THE FINAL RULE:Write it down. Copy it clean. Label it so you can find it later. Keep a spare. Paper rewards adults whoplan for their own laziness.■ QUOTABLE LINES:• "A page is a building material for minds"• "Paper is the adult in the room. Quiet, stubborn, deadly effective."• "Memory is a leaky roof and paper is a bucket"• "Genius is a house. Paper workers poured the foundation."• "A civilization without receipts is a festival until the food runs out"■ Subscribe for more■ Like if you're going to label your notebook now■ Comment: What's in your notebook?#Paper #History #Technology #Civilization #Education #Documentary


...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

X DocsBy X Dox