Communicating Wasn't Always This Easy

It’s really easy for us in our present day to take for granted the effortlessness with which we can pass information around, but the truth is - it hasn’t always been so easy. The process of human communication has evolved over the years, with many path-breaking inventions and discoveries heralding revolutions from cave paintings to smart phones.

Ancient World

To go back as far as the BC era, early men used cave paintings to communicate. These paintings were pictures of all sorts of different things, from hands to animals to people. These cave paintings were immobile. Then the invention of written communication began with writings made on surfaces of stone, clay, papyrus, wax, and parchment; and the information traveled only as fast as a ship could sail or a horse could run or a person could walk. This reminds me of the myth of Pheidippides, the legendary Greek messenger, who ran from Marathon to Athens in 490 B.C., to announce the victory of the Athenian army over the invading Persian army in a battle in the plain of Marathon, located roughly 26 miles north of Athens. According to legend, Pheidippides raced back to the city in intense late summer heat, and upon reaching the Athenian agora, he exclaimed “Nike!” (“Victory!”) or “Rejoice! We Conquer” and then collapsed and died from exhaustion.

Printing Press

The invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg lead to an increase in sharing of information through books and within a century of its advent, the printing press was being used to print pamphlets, almanacs and newsletters in addition to Bibles and religious materials. Yet, the slow movement of information way back then was very costly. One example of this took place near New Orleans, Louisiana. Britain and the US were fighting the War of 1812. The Battle of New Orleans is a famous battle. As in all large battles, hundreds of troops were killed or wounded. After the battle, the Americans and the British learned there had been no need to fight. Negotiators for the US and Britain had signed a peace treaty in the city of Ghent, Belgium, two weeks earlier. Yet, news of the treaty had not reached the US before the opposing troops met in New Orleans. The battle had been a terrible waste. People died because information about the peace treaty traveled so slowly.

Telegraph

A faster method finally arrived with the invention of the telegraph. The first useful telegraphs were developed in Britain and the US in the 1830s. Each letter of the alphabet and each number had to be sent separately by a device called a telegraph key. The person on the receiving end would write each letter on a piece of paper as it was received. In the 1850s, an expert with a telegraph key could send about thirty-five to forty words in a minute. It took several hours to send a lot of information. Still, the telegraph permitted people who lived in cities to communicate much faster than any other means at the time. Telegraph lines linked large city centers and the telegraph soon had a major influence on daily life. The telegraph provided information about everything. Governments, businesses and individuals used the telegraph to send information. Newspapers used the telegraph to get information needed to tell readers what was happening in the world (think of the Daily Telegraph founded in 1855). Newspapers often were printed four or five times a day as new information about important stories was received over the telegraph. 

On August 5th, 1858, the first message was transmitted by a wire cable under the Atlantic Ocean. The wire linked the US and Europe by telegraph. This meant that a terrible mistake like the battle of New Orleans would never happen again. Reports of daily news events in Europe began to appear in American newspapers and vice versa. Information now took only a matter of hours to reach most large cities in the world. This was true for the big cities linked by the telegraph; however, it was a different story if you lived in a small farming town, kilometers away from a large city. The news you got might be a day or two late. It took that long back then for you to receive your newspaper.

Telephone

Things took a new turn when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in the 1870's. People could pick up the telephone —paying for long-distance calls — and speak to friends and family far away. Yet, they could only talk to one person at a time and on top of that, there were no answering machines to leave messages if a person wasn't home, or Caller ID to screen calls if they didn't feel like picking up the phone. Pay phones were the only option to call home if your car broke down on the side of the road, or if you had to stay after school.

Radio

In November 1920, radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania broadcast the first radio program. That broadcast gave the results of a presidential election. Within a few short years, news and information could be heard anywhere a radio broadcast could reach. Radios did not cost much, so most people owned at least one radio, which meant they did not have to wait until their newspaper arrived. Radio reporters began to speak to the public from cities where important events were taking place. Political leaders also discovered that radio was a valuable political tool. It permitted them to talk directly to the public. Some people learned quickly that information meant power and in the 1930s many countries began controlling information. The government of Nazi Germany is a good example. Before and during World War II, the government of Nazi Germany controlled all information the German people received. The government controlled all radio broadcasts and newspapers. The people of Germany only heard or read what the government wanted them to hear or read and it was illegal for them to listen to a foreign broadcast. 

Television

After World War II, a new invention appeared – the television. In industrial nations, television quickly became common in most homes. Large companies were formed to produce television programs. Most programs were designed to entertain people. There were movies, music programs and game programs. However, television also broadcast news and important information about world events. It broadcast some education programs, too. As the number of radio and television stations around the world increased, it became harder for a dictator to control information. In the 1950s, for the first time a television broadcast showed the East Coast and the West Coast of the US at the same time. A cable that carried the pictures linked the two coasts. So, people watching the program saw the Pacific Ocean on the left side of the screen and the Atlantic Ocean on the right side of the screen. It was not a film. People could see two reporters talk to each other even though a continent separated them. It was amazing! And by September 1956, the first telephone cable under the Atlantic Ocean made it possible to make direct telephone calls from the US to Europe.

Satellite

Less than six years later, in July, 1962, the first communications satellite was placed in orbit around the Earth. The speed of information greatly increased again, and information could be received immediately across the world. People who lived in a small village could listen to or watch world events as they happened. A good example is when American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. Millions of people around the world watched as he carefully stepped onto the moon on July 20th, 1969. People in large cities, small towns and villages saw the event live as it was happening. There was no delay in communicating this important information. This marked the beginning of what experts refer to as the Information Age. 

Information Age

The advent of mobile phones, and the internet further brought a huge revolution in the way we communicate. Now, instead of mailing letters, we're writing e-mails through Gmail or yahoo that can be sent instantaneously to a recipient. We can even add multiple recipients to these e-mails, so that more than one person can read them. Even more, we can send greeting cards for special occasions over the internet without delay with sites like someecards.com and GroupCard.com. No postage needed! Moreso, sending a quick note such as "Meet you there at 9" or "I'll be home late" to a friend can be done in a matter of seconds through whatsapp, viber, etc. With them, we can see if a "buddy" is available or away, talk to multiple people at a time, "wink" and "sigh" using emoticons and emojis, ignore a message if we don't feel like talking, and send links to our favorite Web articles and videos. We are no longer bound to long-distance charges, either. Many folks have already kicked their landline phones to the curb and replaced them with Voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) and mobile phones. We can place free video calls (yes, we can see the person we're talking to) to anyone in the world over the Internet by using Skype. Mobile phones have become indsipensable, letting us place calls no matter where we are—on the way to work, at the beach, at school, etc. 

However, although technology has saved us a lot of trouble with the ease of communication. It is also true that technology has also made society somewhat impersonal. At the workplace we communicate with each other mostly through e-mail and instant message. As a result, it's difficult to tell when a person is serious or sarcastic— and phrases can easily be misconstrued. Also, technology tends to make communication drag out more than it has to; sometimes it's quicker to just get out of your seat and walk to the person. Even worse, younger generations have forgotten how to spell and write complete sentences due to the increased use of instant messaging on smart phones like the Apple iPhone. The State Examination Commission out of Dublin, Ireland said in a report that in many cases, teenagers seemed "unduly reliant on short sentences, simple tenses, and a limited vocabulary" and that with the use of phonetic spelling and little or no punctuation, it's beginning to pose a threat to traditional conventions in writing, not to mention oral communication. In addition, we've seen how addicted people can become to their smart phones. People possess an obsessive need to constantly check snapchat, facebook, twitter or even their e-mail, even when on vacation with the family. It's as if we're afraid we'll miss something important or be out of the loop, while we are missing out on connecting with the people right beside us. I think it’s important that we deliberately remain personal as humans and not allow these gadgets turn us into robots.

References
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/technology-communicate-27322.html
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2332339,00.asp
http://www.articlesnatch.com/blog/The-Way-People-Communicate-Has-Changed-Over-Time/366197#gsc.tab=0
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/sports/2010/april/Myth-of-Pheidippides-and-the-Marathon.html

Marriage! People, Places and Perceptions

In the ancient world, marriage served primarily as a means of preserving power, with kings and other members of the ruling class marrying off daughters to forge alliances, acquire land, and produce legitimate heirs. Even in the lower classes, women had little say over whom they married. The purpose of marriage was the production of heirs. 

Ancient Rome

In ancient Rome, marriage was a civil affair governed by imperial law. But when the empire collapsed, in the 5th century, church courts took over and elevated marriage to a holy union. As the church's power grew through the Middle Ages, so did its influence over marriage. In 1215, marriage was declared one of the church's seven sacraments, alongside rites like baptism and penance. But it was only in the 16th century that the church decreed that weddings be performed in public, by a priest, and before witnesses.’

In the 17th and 18th centuries, when Enlightenment thinkers pioneered the idea that life was about the pursuit of happiness, they advocated marrying for love rather than wealth or status. This trend was augmented by the Industrial Revolution and the growth of the middle class in the 19th century, which enabled young men to select a spouse and pay for a wedding, regardless of parental approval. As people took more control of their love lives, they began to demand the right to end unhappy unions and so divorce became much more commonplace.

Asia

Among the Asians, marriage was traditionally regarded as a bonding of families rather than individuals. In much of China, marriage is, first and foremost, about family and community. In most of Asia, marriage is widespread and illegitimacy almost unknown. Divorce, though rising in some countries, remains comparatively rare. But these days, arranged marriages are yielding to Western-style "love matches" among the young middle classes. Traditional marriage patterns have also been altered by the increased number of working women and women seeking careers. Women are retreating from marriage as they go into the workplace. That's partly because, for a woman, being both employed and married is tough in Asia. Women are the primary caregivers for husbands, children and, often, for ageing parents; and even when in full-time employment, they are expected to continue to play this role. This is true elsewhere in the world, but the burden that Asian women carry is quiet heavy. Japanese women, who typically work 40 hours a week in the office, then do, on average, another 30 hours of housework. Their husbands, on average, do three hours. And Asian women who give up work to look after children find it hard to return when the offspring are grown. 

Japan

In Japan, prospective partners are chosen on the basis of education level, family position, and compatibility determined by Chinese astrology and numerology. The search, research, and introduction were traditionally made by nakodas (honored go-betweens, usually older, respected married couples).

In the old days, families of the prospective partners met to size up each other and pursued the marriages like trade partners working out a business deal. If the couple liked each other and the union of their families was regarded as advantageous the couple dated until their engagement was formally announced and betrothal gifts were formally exchanged. In the 1950s, about 70 percent of all marriages were arranged. In 1973, the figure was only 37 percent. Today only around 10 percent are. Arranged marriages today are worked out by professional matchmakers, nakodas, fortune tellers and detectives that specialize in marriage partners

Today, prospective couples get together at arranged meetings with chaperons after they have been selected for one another. It is not unusual for a woman to attend 50 such meetings before finding the right man. Couples that have three or four formal meetings and still like each other after that often end up getting married.

Hindu

Hindus believe that marriage is a "holy, indissoluble union of families as well as individuals." According to the Hindu scholar Dr. Krishna Nath Chatterjuee, “The purpose of the Hindu marriage is to have sexual relations, continuity of race, and discharging of religion, and social duties. Marriages have traditionally taken place when the couple is very young and girls are expected to be virgins when they get married. One of the things the parent benefits from presenting a pure daughter for marriage is the earning of great merit. Kanya is a word used to describe virginity and it is equated with purity, an important element of Hinduism. Producing a son is one of the primary aims of a marriage and marriage is regarded as a necessity to continue the family line. Any man or woman who is not married or doesn't have children is regarded as incomplete. But a woman can only marry if she is pure. A divorced or widowed woman is considered no longer pure but polluted and if she remarries, it is believed that she would pollute the man she is married to. 

Somalia

Somali marriage laws are practically Muslim marriage laws, with a difference. A man may have four wives, with all the trouble he deserves in consequence thrown in. He may become engaged to a girl before she is born by making an arrangement with her "would-be” parents. The engagement, in any case, is always arranged between the girl's parents or guardians and is clinched by a small present from the man to them as a token of finality. This token, which may consist of a horse or even any small personal possession of the man's, once accepted makes the engagement binding for all time. If broken by either party something like a breach of promise case is the result. Any time before the marriage, property (generally in the shape of stock) is paid by the suitor to the parents as the purchase price of his bride. The value of this property varies among different tribes and for different women. If before marriage a girl dies, her relations must return the purchase price paid. Should the man die his next of kin may marry the girl on making a small further payment. Should she refuse this alliance, another must be found to take her place, or the price is returned to the deceased's estate. If everything is arranged satisfactorily and the marriage is consummated, a substantial proportion of the price is returned to the man by his wife's people. 

Sudan

The Neur people of southern Sudan must pay 20-40 cattle, the marriage is completed only after the wife has born 2 children. If the wife only bears one child and the husband asks for a divorce he can also ask for either the return of the cattle or the first child. Divorce therefore is very difficult. Another interesting fact is that if a husband dies then the husbands family must provide a brother to the widow and any children born to the brother are considered the deceased's children.

The 1950s 

The motives behind marriages of the 1950s consist of the fact that people were expected to start off their lives right after High School. The roles of the husband and wife were simply. The husband, being the breadwinner of the family, was expected to work and provide financial support for the family while the wife stayed at home to take care of the children along with cleaning and cooking and generally take care of the home. It was the norm for girls as young as 19 and boys as young as 21 to get married (which I find to be quite interesting because I got married at the age of 25 and I thought I was too young). I know people who got married at the age of 18 and I wonder why (I don’t think I would want my daughter or son to get married at such a young age). 

Back then in the 50s, the divorce rates were 23 percent but that did not mean all marriages in the 50s were happy. People in the 1940s and 1950s (and I think even till date) believed that divorces were regarded as a deviant behavior and a public acknowledgement of failure. Many people today still believe that the way out of a marriage is not divorce but death; hence ‘till death do us part.’

Marriage Economics

The economy has undergone so many changes since the 50s, so it is rare to see a situation where the man is still the only one supporting the family financially in today’s economy. Back then, maybe the economy wasn’t so hard. However, for the wealthy and affluent, the situation may be different. In an interview I watched of Donald Trump and his family, the wife of his eldest son happens to be a stay-at-home mum. That is possible when you are swimming in billions. Personal relationships of rich and famous people usually bear little resemblance to those of regular Americans. In today's marriage, both spouses have to work in order to financially support their family. The average age for people to get married are as young as 27 for men and as young as 25 for women. The motives of marriage have changed since most parents do expect their children to go to college right after high school rather than marry.

The Decline

It has often been said that the family is the building block of the society but the definition of family has changed from what it is used to be. Before a family can be created, there must be a coming together of a man and a woman in holy matrimony; this was how a family was described in the beginning but over the past decades, the view of marriage has been shifting. In the western world, many couples meet, find themselves attracted to each other, decide to date each other exclusively, engage in sexual activity, agree to form a permanent relationship and move in together and maybe get married along the way or break up. In most cases, the couples are of opposite genders. However, a small but growing number of couples who wish to get married are of the same gender. 

With a high divorce rate, instead of "death to us part" more newlyweds figure if the marriage can't last, the way to end it is by getting a divorce. It is true that marriages in the 1950s lasted a lot longer, but back then divorces were considered a taboo. While marriage is in decline, unmarried cohabitation is on the rise. Fifteen times the number of couples today live together outside of marriage than in 1960 and almost half of cohabiting households include children.

Only about half of Americans are married now, down from 72 percent in 1960, according to census data. The age at which one first gets married has risen by six years since 1960, and now only 20 percent of Americans get married before the age of 30. The number of new marriages each year is declining at a slow but steady rate. The Pew Research Center recently found that about 40 percent of unmarried adults believe that marriage is becoming obsolete. Is it?

Marriage is a sacred institution and it can never be obsolete because it depicts the relationship between Christ and His Church. Marriages fail because the man and his wife choose to make themselves or their children or career or ambition the center of their marriage instead of Christ. The word of God clearly points out the roles and responsibility of the man and the woman but the world tries to make it look complicated and burdensome, this is a great deception. As long as couples base their marriage on the word of God and adhere to all that is written in it, there will be no need for divorce or separation.

References

http://factsanddetails.com/asian/cat62/sub407/item2605.html

http://theweek.com/articles/475141/how-marriage-changed-over-centuries

http://www.africanmarriage.info/

How Man Has Conquered Immobility

It’s obvious that transportation methods have come a long way. Many modes of transport have evolved and many more have gone extinct. The modes of our transportation have developed alongside the expansion of our human understanding and culture. Our greatest demands and challenges have, in turn, initiated our greatest inventive feats that have taken us from where we have come to where we intend to go. Transportation technology has been the key to our most powerful sociological and technological growth. And as it has done so in the distant past, it will continue to do so into the distant future. During the stone age of antiquity, we walked and ran upon the solid earth and swam and floated in dugout canoes upon the seas. 

In 8,000 BC, the Canoe was invented and people used this as a means of transportation on water. In 6,000 BC men skied from point A to point B which is quite interesting because skiing today is just a sporting or recreational activity but centuries ago, it was a vital and essential means of transportation. 

Whether first developed as an 'invention' in one place, or re-invented in several, wheels seem to have evolved as a natural solution to the problem of transport in areas where both oxen and wood are available. By 2000 BC heavy wheeled transport was in use in a region stretching from northern Europe to western Persia and Mesopotamia. Following the invention of the wheel was the wheeled cart in 3,500 BC. Now, this means of transportation was used not only to transport man but his goods as well. This became very useful and essential to farmers because they could put their farm produce on the cart which was way better than when they used to carry their produce or harvest on their back or shoulders (imagine carrying pounds of corn or yam or plantain of your shoulders or back for hundreds of miles).

In 1500 BC, the Galley was invented which was of greater advantage than the canoe that could only accommodate one passenger. The galley was a low, flat ship with one or more sails and up to three banks of oars, primarily used for warfare, trade, and piracy. The galley originated among the seafaring civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea in the early first millennium BC and remained in use in various forms until the early 19th century in warfare, trade and piracy. Galleys were the warships used by the early Mediterranean naval powers, including the Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans. They remained the dominant types of vessels used for war and piracy in the Mediterranean Sea until the last decades of the 16th century. 

In 600 BC, the Carriage (similar to the wheeled cart) was made. The difference between the wheeled cart and the carriage is that the carriage was more sophisticated than the wheel cart and it also had a covering, whereas the wheeled cart had none. The cart was more for labor work because it could only take one man and his goods the carriage could take about 2 or 4 passengers. 

In 200 AD, Junk ships were used as a means of transportation. Junks were efficient and sturdy ships that sailed long distances as early as the 2nd century CE. A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing ship design that is still in use today. They were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages. They were found, and in lesser numbers are still found, throughout South-East Asia and India, but primarily in China.

After the Junk Ship came the Wheel Barrow. A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a derivation of the Old English "bearwe" which was a device used for carrying loads. The earliest wheelbarrows with archaeological evidence in the form of a one-wheel cart come from 2nd century Han Dynasty in China. 

In the 15th century, the Carrack, a three or four masted sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Genoese for use in commerce became a method of transportation. They were widely used by Europe's 15th-century maritime powers, from the Mediterranean to northwest Europe, although each region had models of slightly different design. The Portuguese and the Spanish used them for oceanic travel and to explore the world.

After the Carrack came the Funicular in the 16th century. Also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, the funicular is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope, the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalancing each other. Funiculars of one sort or another have existed for hundreds of years and continue to be used for moving both passengers and goods. In the United States, the first funicular to use a two-rail layout was the Telegraph Hill Railroad in San Francisco, which was in operation from 1884 until 1886. The Mount Lowe Railway in Altadena, California, was the first mountain railway in the United States to use the three-rail layout. 

The 16th century also welcomed another means of transportation which is the Stage Coach. A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon used to carry passengers and goods inside. 

The year 1783 witnessed the invention and first use of the hot air balloon. After that came the steam boat in 1785 which was followed by the steam locomotive in 1804. 

The wheels came back in the 19th century but in a different form. In 1808, the Dandy Horse was invented. The dandy horse is a human-powered vehicle that, being the first means of transport to make use of the two-wheeler principle, is regarded as the archetype of the bicycle. The dandy horse was invented by Baron Karl Drais in Mannheim, Germany, and patented in France in February 1818. The dandy-horse was a two-wheeled vehicle, with both wheels in-line, propelled by the rider pushing along the ground with the feet as in regular walking or running. The front wheel and handlebar assembly was hinged to allow steering.

Up until the invention of the hot air ballon, man had only been able to move either by road or by water. With the hot air ballon, certain distances could be covered by air but the distance was still relatively short. In 1852, another type of air transportation was launched. 

The subway which is still in use even till date came about in 1863. That explains why some tunnels and subways look so very old (there were occasions where I would be on a subway and I would look around and wonder how in the world they were constructed because it was obvious they were not constructed recently. I used to think of the amount of labor and man power that must have been use to construct these subways. Another edition of the wheels came in 1870, the Penny Farthing (what an interesting name). In 1882, the first appearance of the electric trolley emerged. From wheel cart to barrow, then to dandy horse and penny farthing, the wheels have long since been a reliable means of transportation for man. And eventually in 1885, the motor cycle was invented which is still in use till today. 

It is interesting to also note that the use for carriages may have been reduced to rides around Central Park, but funiculars, cable railways along steep slopes that date back to the 16th century, can still be found in use around the world. 

As the world began to change and the technical and mechanical skills of people began to evolve and expand, man began to wonder if there were other methods of transportation that could be invented. This tells me that man has always been a searching being, always searching for new things or a way to make things better. Either to improve on something that already existed or creates something totally new. 

As a result of this deeply ingrained desire to try or create new things, the gas car was invented in 1886. I guess after exhausting all the other methods of transportation, an idea came for what will be widely and most commonly used all over the world today. 

As man was trying to improve transportation on land, he was also searching for how to do the same thing in the air, hence the invention of the Glider in 1891. 

The Diesel Truck came in 1892. After that came the Airplane in 1903, then the Race Car showed up in 1930s. The Helicopter came into the scene in 1939 followed by the Jetliner in 1952. Monster Truck came in the 1950s and after that came the Hovercraft in 1959.

 

Right after that came the Bathyscape in 1960 followed by the Rocket in 1961 and the All Terrian Vechile. In 1984, Jet Propulsion and the Maglev came into the scene. The 21st century ushered in the Segway and a prototype of the self-driving car was introduced in 2009 and in 2015, the Hydrogen fuel-cell car was launched.

Throughout history, we can see that for every journey and distance, man had been able to create or invent a more suitable method of transportation. In the beginning, things were a lot slower and it took an incredible amount of time to move from point A to point B. However, because man was not created to be static, he kept seeking out ways to move faster and better with less energy and one after the other he invented different machinery to see which one works best for the road, water and sea. So far so go, the journey up until now has been very interesting and exciting. But I am curious to know what man will invent going forward from here on. Every limitation has given man the opportunity to create, invent and develop something that will stretch his mind and capacbility, something that the world has never seen or experienced before.

What limitations are we going to face tomorrow? Whatever it is, I believe that just the same way man found a way oto break the limitations of the past, tomorrow’s limitation will yet again meet another invention by man that will break it. 

References

http://www.6sqft.com/video-travel-through-history-to-see-how-transportation-has-changed/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab79
Here to There- A brief history of transportation by Kasia Cieplak-Mayr Von Baldegg

The Changing Rules of the Dating Game

A hundred years ago, when there was no Internet; no social networking and no texting, it was a lot harder to ask a girl out on a date. One dated a man or a woman from a well-known and respected family in town and courtships were first accepted and approved by parents. Back then, parents had to give permission before their kids were allowed to go on a date. They knew where they were going and when they would be back home. But the rules have changed now. In fact, the kids are the ones dictating the rules now not even the parents. Perhaps a few are still going by the old rules but my guess is, they are the minority or even termed as ‘old school.’

I remember back in the 80’s before my older sisters got married, their suitors always came to our house to see them and most times, they were in the sitting room where everyone could see them. They were rarely left alone and many of the times the suitors came was when our parents were also around. If they went out, they always returned at a certain hour not late at night. There was some form of strictness about how opposite sex related in those days. For two people who were dating or courting, it was a not acceptable to see their bodies at close proximity to each other not to even talk of kissing each other, that was considered abominable. 

Today, it's an unusual occurrence if parents know who their son or daughter is dating, if they know at all. This contrast has been aided by the internet. People "date" other people in different states; even different countries and now we even have same sex dating. 

In the first decade of the twentieth century, the term "called upon" was used by men to call young women whom they liked by (with the permission of her parents) visiting her home. They would spend time together, under the supervision of her parents so that they may get to know each other on an intellectual and emotional level. The couple was rarely left alone, which made any physical contact or sexual intimacy almost impossible. Since lower-class families did not have the resources to entertain potential suitors in their home, many couples began leaving the house to spend time together. This was what gave rise to the phrase "going out on a date." During this period, dating was typically defined as the period of time two people spend together (in an exclusive or nearly exclusive, nonsexual relationship) before marriage. However, in today's society, dating is defined in many different ways and it means different things to the people involved with no ending point or specific destination (such as marriage) required.

During the World War II era and well into the 1940s, there were few young male adults in the United States as a result of the mandatory draft, most of them were overseas fighting the war and many never returned. Women became less concerned with a man's status and more about his survival. A new relationship style called "going steady" emerged. Across university campuses, couples made public their decision to "go steady" when the man gave the woman a piece of his clothing to wear, such as a jacket or sweater. In both "going steady" and "dating" relationships in the 1940s and 1950s (unlike those of previous generations), peers had a much larger influence on the relationship than did the family. As the twentieth century progressed, young couples were more likely to partake in premarital sex within the context of committed relationships.

During the Women's Movement of the mid-1960s and the emergence of the birth control pill, a sexual revolution began. The Women's Movement enforced the idea that women, like men, were sexual beings who had desires and the right to receive pleasure. People began to have more sexual encounters, due to the newly acquired liberal attitudes that the birth control pill allowed. Students were also more willing to have sex outside of committed relationships because they had easy access to birth control pills. Sex before marriage became less of a taboo and more of the norm. This time, period birthed the beginning of the "hookup" culture. Many young adults on college campuses began partying and experimenting with alcohol and hallucinogenic drugs. This new crowd activity replaced the typical date night that existed in the past.

With the rise of the hook-up culture has come a change in the overall mentality behind dating. Terms like "girlfriend," "boyfriend," and "partner" are now used more often when describing a person's significant other. The focus in the 21st century is less about finding someone to date, court and marry than finding someone who can be fun “for the moment.” “Raised in the age of so-called ‘hookup culture,’ millennials—who are reaching an age where they are starting to think about settling down—are subverting the rules of courtship,” The New York Times reported. Instead of dinner-and-a-movie, which seems as obsolete as a rotary phone, they rendezvous over phone texts, Facebook posts, instant messages and other ‘non-dates’ that are leaving a generation confused about how to land a boyfriend or girlfriend.

For the average 20 or 30-year-old, a traditional date includes using a smartphone app to locate someone of the opposite sex whose physical appearance is appealing, texting him or her, meeting in a bar, mumbling through conversation with the person in between texting friends, and then possibly returning to the other’s apartment for a late-night tryst.

If there is any type of connection, the two may decide to text each other later to “hang out” or “hook up” again. This could lead to them getting to know each other better and potentially moving in together. After a few months or years pass, this could also lead to them getting married or (more likely) splitting up to find someone else with whom to start the whole process again.

These days, many people are out to look for fun, not love or maybe a combination of both. The internet age has also given rise to the online dating sites which make it easier (but not necessarily safer) for people to meet themselves and date each other. 

Each generation has developed a new form of dating to add to the relationship spectrum and the main contribution of the 21st century is the hookup. Some may view this addition as a step backward, but it is really just an added facet to the diversity of relationships. While some people may not see traditional dating as desirable in the 21st century, there is still a large subset of people who enjoy going on traditional dates and desire a long-term, monogamous relationship. 

Although we may not want our courtships to mirror those of the early twentieth century, we should, perhaps, heed the advice of the generations before us in that we should get to know who we date and set clear boundaries right from the start. Another thing I believe is also crucial is getting the opinions of our loved ones about our date. What increases our chances of a healthy relationship is the wealth of information we get as regards to their past and who they truly are because many people pretend to be who they are not. Childhood friends can also add insight with regard to a person's character. If no childhood/younger year friends exist in a person's present; this is in itself a red flag. Our parents, siblings and friends have a way of seeing benefit all the nice facades that love (or lust) may blind us to. The above-mentioned people can inform, endorse, and attest to a person's moral fiber. And a little background check never hurt anyone. The more we know, the better our courtships become.

Most importanly, praying about someone you are interested in or who is interested in you will reveal the mind of God to us about that person. Never leave God out of your relationships because He knows the end from the beginning. 

References

http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/sexinfo/article/history-dating
http://www.examiner.com/article/dating-then-and-now-courtships 

The Evolution of Magazines

The Beginning

For about 4,500 years prior to the invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg, books had to be painstakingly copied by hand. They were written on surfaces of clay, papyrus, wax, and parchment. The spread of Gutenberg's new technology was rapid, leading to an increase in the availability of books, the standardization of grammar and spelling in languages other than Latin, and the sharing of arts and technology. Within a century of its advent, the printing press was being used to print pamphlets, almanacs and newsletters in addition to Bibles and religious materials.

The first publication, which could be called a magazine, was a periodical called Erbauliche Monaths Unterredungen (Edifying Monthly Discussions), released in the year 1663 by the German theologian and poet Johann Rist. It was a literary and philosophical publication and its launch gave rise to a myriad of similar periodicals in England, France, and Italy, which were tailored to a cultured young intellectual audience. They were mainly written by one author. The earliest publication similar to today’s magazines (with various themes and several authors) appeared in the year 1672, when French writer and playwright Jean Donneau de Vize created Le Mercure Galant. The publication contained news, songs, short verses and gossip. Despite being disparaged by other writers of the day for its amusing rather than intellectual content, the periodical became very popular in France and the concept was replicated throughout Europe. The first women’s magazine to surface was called Ladie’s Mercury, which was launched in London in the year 1693 by publisher, John Dunton. The one-page publication sought to answer “all the most curious questions concerning love, marriage, behavior, dress and humor of the female sex.” The weekly periodical only lasted four weeks. 

18th Century

The 1700s ushered in a time of increased literacy and intellectual prowess, especially among women. Society’s hunger for knowledge enabled magazines to become a popular cultural staple. English printers produced three essay periodicals that set the stage for modern magazines: Daniel Defoe’s The Review (published 1704-13); Sir Richard Steele’s The Tatler (published 1709-11); and Addison and Steele’s The Spectator (published 1711-12). Since the periodicals were published several times a week, they resembled our modern newspapers. However, their content was more similar to that of modern magazines. The Review published opinionated essays about national and international events. The Tatler and The Spectator sought to “enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality.” These two publications influenced the manners and thoughts of the day. 

Of course, all these publications in their beginnings were called periodicals and the name “magazine” only began to appear in the year 1731 with the emergence of the Gentleman’s Magazine, published by Edward Cave, an Englishman. He invented the word “magazine” from the Arabic word makhazin, which meant storehouse, used for describing the place which deposits large quantity of various goods (Interesting, I couldn't have guessed that). Cave’s goal was to create a magazine that the general public would be interested in. He achieved two accomplishments worthy of note: he coined the term “magazine,” and he was the first publisher to successfully fashion a wide-ranging publication.

The success of the magazine was great, but the costs of every issue were even higher. Printing cost was high, and the number of printed copies could not be greater than one hundred thousand because it was technically impossible to squeeze a larger amount of paper through the machine. Distribution was also a big problem because it was difficult to move large quantities of magazines at great distances.

America only comes into the picture in 1741. Philadelphia printers Andrew Bradford and Benjamin Franklin—who owned rivaling newspapers—both raced to publish the first American magazine. Bradford ultimately claimed the honor by publishing American Magazine first. Benjamin Franklin’s General Magazine was published three days later. Neither of the magazines succeeded as Bradford’s publication folded after three months, and Franklin’s lasted only six months. Despite these short-lived ventures, magazines became incredibly popular in America and by the end of the 18th century, there were more than 100 magazines in the United States. Some of the most influential early American magazines were the Pennsylvania Magazine, which was edited by Thomas Paine, and the Massachusetts Magazine.

Meanwhile, despite the failure of the first women's magazine in 1770, London bookseller John Coote teamed up with publisher John Wheble to create a longer-lasting women’s publication, The Lady’s Magazine. The monthly British fashion magazine was filled with embroidery patterns, sheet music, literary pieces and fashion notes.

19th century

America’s magazine market increased exponentially in the late 1800s, in large part due to compulsory education and increased literacy. As a result, magazines became more specialized and were created specifically for lawyers, artists, musicians and other professionals. Early American literary publications included the Philadelphia Literary Magazine (1803-08) and the Monthly Anthology (1803-11) and the American Journal of Science (founded in 1818), which still exists today. In 1845, inventor Rufus Porter created Scientific American to encourage fellow inventors. The publication explored new inventions, ideas, and patents. National Geographic Magazine was also launched - filled with scientific content and colorful photos and some of its early revenue were used to fund scientific expeditions and endeavors.

Up until this point, magazines were expensive and geared toward the rich, learned and sophisticated individuals of the day. However, by the 1830s, less expensive magazines aimed at the middle class and general public began to emerge. Rather than maintaining the intellectual air of their predecessors, these magazines focused on amusement and entertainment. This was the beginning of the first family magazines, such as Dickens Household Words. The increasing attempts to cut the price of the magazines led to the appearance of the first ads, but not much because the ads were loaded with special tax, all up to 1853. 

The world of women’s magazines was revolutionized in 1883, when Cyrus Curtis created Ladies’ Home Journal. Edited by his wife Lousia Knapp Curtis, the magazine veered away from the sentimentality of earlier women’s magazines in favor of helpful, hands-on homemaking advice. Each issue contained recipes, cleaning tips and stories and by 1898, Ladies’ Home Journal became the first American magazine to reach 1 million subscribers.

The late 19th century saw the invention of the rotary press, which led to an increase in the number of printed copies and prices reduction and thus, we enter the century that will mark the development of magazines as one of the world’s leading media. Also, with the technological progress, increased circulation, and increased use of images, magazines became increasingly attractive to advertisers and the first advertising agency was established in 1890 and from that point on advertising started to flourish.

20th Century

The early 20th century saw the rise of most of today's biggest magazines. In 1922, William Roy DeWitt Wallace founded Reader’s Digest which was the best-selling magazine in America for several years. Back then it contained articles about American culture, humorous bits, cartoons and heartwarming stories whereas today, the beloved publication is filled with health tips, recipes, inspiring true stories and funny blurbs. Better Homes and Gardens, now the fifth largest magazine in America, was founded in 1923. It was filled with decorating tips, entertaining ideas and gardening suggestions, whereas today it is beloved for its recipes and design ideas. Other important publications appeared such as Conde Nast’s Vogue, Vanity Fair and news magazine Time, whose starter Henry Luce is still considered the most influential publisher in history. The same company will issue several well-known magazines such as Life,Sports, Illustrated and Money. 

Parallel with the development of Time, Fortune magazine was published, which originated from Time business pages. Fortune was considered the best and most influential American magazine. Besides heavily influenced by the world of business, Fortune is known for being the first high-quality printed magazine, with pages in full color. Fortune also invented photo-journalism, something that would make Life magazine famous few years later. However, due to increasing costs of printing, the Fortune starts to lose money and in 1948, it was redesigned, both in graphics and in journalistic terms and becomes an ordinary business magazine.

Although women’s magazines have been around since 17th century, it wasn’t until 1933, that the first men’s magazine was published in America. Created to be “all things to all men,” Esquire which is still popular today covered fashion, music and culture. Esquire’s best years were in the mid of the 20th century when Henry Wolfe as art director transformed the magazine for men into the visual candy of photographs and illustrations. Wolf was succeeded by Sam Antupit, who continued to create wonderful designs until the end of the 60s. Then, In 1944, Seventeen magazine was founded.

Seventeen was the first American magazine created specifically for adolescents. The magazine’s original mission was to encourage teenage girls to become well-rounded human beings. Initially, the magazine contained articles about work, service, citizenship, beauty and fashion. However, the magazine soon began to focus on beauty and fashion. Other magazines such Teen Vogue followed suit. These magazines helped solidify and shape the newly minted concept of a teenager.

Women's magazine was upped yet again, in 1945 when Helene Gordon Lazareff launched Elle (French for “she”) in post-WWII France. The magazine greatly changed the way women think, speak, and perceive themselves. Weekly Elle instructed French women on how to be attractive and nice. The success of the magazine was huge and by 1960, the number of sold copies reached one million when one out of six French women regularly read Elle. Then In Germany 1959, legendary magazine Twen was released. Twen was a provocative magazine for a younger audience, and it consisted of erotic photos and intelligent articles. Its editors wanted to attract new younger generation, who wanted to differentiate from their parents, and in this, they succeeded.

On the other side of the Atlantic, in the USA began the golden era of magazines. What Paris was for modern art in the late 19th and early 20th century, New York of the 50’s was in the modern magazine art direction, specifically Madison Avenue the location of the largest magazines of that era. Madison Avenue was the birthplace of a new generation of designers and art directors who have established design and magazine advertising as we know it today. Later this period was called the Creative Revolution with revolutionary giants like Alexey Brodovitch for Harper’s Bazaar, Leo Lionni for Fortune, Steve Frankfurt for Young & Rubicam, Herb Lubalin for Hennessey, Henry Wolf for Esquire, Art Paul for Playboy and Alexander Liberman for Conde Nast. However, with all the big names, making magazines was very difficult and time-consuming. There were no computers and almighty Photoshop, everything was done manually, and the main tools were pencils, erasers, rulers, tape. It took around four months to produce one issue.

In the seventies, emerged a new kind of magazine, celebrity magazine. The first issue of People was out in 1974. Since then, this kind of magazines has been the most selling ones. Those years also brought a boom of women’s magazines. One of them was gaining in popularity and it was Cosmopolitan. On the other side, there were also fashion magazines and the most famous of them are Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Their race lasts for more than a century, and every now and then there are few new rivals. 

At the beginning of the 80’s Vanity Fair was reissued. More and more publications appear on newsstands, but also, many of them disappear. Among the more successful certainly are British magazines Face and Arena, but both shut down in the 2000’s. In the early 90’s appeared specialized magazines for growing cyber generations. The best and most respected, even to this day is Wired.

The Future of Magazine

Since 2008, the lifestyle community began to see the death of many of its most beloved publications: House & Garden, Gourmet, Domino, Blueprint, Readymade and many more. While a few have come back in less frequent forms, the industry still seems to be figuring out how to regain its foothold in a drastically changing advertising and reader world. In the meantime, a wide range of independent publications have grown and seem to be building sustainable models for print in a slightly more niche style. While there’s no way for any of us to predict the future or summarize what is clearly a complicated issue, one cannot but wonder... What lies ahead? What’s next for magazines? What’s next with technology and creativity in publishing? How will things change? There is no set-in-stone answer but it is obvious that magazine has come a long way. How much farther can it go?

I am looking forward to what the future holds for magazines.

References
https://www.magazines.com/history-of-magazines
http://www.magazinedesigning.com/history-of-the-magazines/
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/educator/modules/gutenberg/books/

The 21st Century Teenager

Being a teenager in the 21st century is rather daunting. It is hard to avoid the constant bombardment of pop culture and media images. Today’s teens are no longer worrying about acne and puberty and what they are going to do after graduating from high school; rather they are faced with more life-threatening and life-changing issues which for their age and considering their mental development, is very tough. I remember when I was a teenager; it was quite different from when I was just a little child who saw the world in rainbow colors. As a teenager, I felt different, thought differently and saw everybody differently. I became more aware of myself and others around me. Although I wasn’t yet a full adult, I was growing into one every day and I began to see life in a different way. I didn’t understand why I was so depressed, sad, angry, frustrated and cold. More so, I didn’t want to be told what to do anymore and as much as I could, I didn’t even want to do what I was told to do. I realized I wasn’t the only one feeling or acting like this, there were many other teenagers with similar experiences but it hasn’t always been this way with teenagers, especially in the older centuries. Although there was no major event or trend that signifies the teenagers of the 1900s, they simply did as their parents told them to do because there was more respect for authority back then, which is a far cry from the rebellious way many 21st century teenagers now live.

There is no doubt that media and entertainment has had a profound influence on teenagers in the 20th and 21st century. Young people no longer see their parents as role models; rather movie and music stars have now being adopted as their role models. Many put up the posters of these celebrities in their rooms and literally idolize them. My guess is that many parents thought the only influence they were up against was TV but they didn’t see social media coming. Little did they know that social media would have an even greater influence on their teenagers. 

A CNN documentary titled #Being13 was done in October 2015 to show just how much time teenagers spend on social media and what it means to them. It was a big discovery and a huge shock. One 13 year old teenager actually said "I would rather not eat for a week than get my phone taken away. It's really bad, I literally feel like I'm going to die." Another 13 year old said, "When I get my phone taken away, I feel kind of naked, I do feel kind of empty without my phone." Many of them now see social media as their life, a world that is more real than their physical world. It’s almost as if the number of friends, likes, followers, retweets they have on social media is much more important than their school grades. I once heard of a tragic story of a young teenage boy in UK who committed suicide because a group of boys threatened to post his nude picture on Facebook and make it viral. Apparently, the boy wanted to send his picture to a girl he liked but mistakenly sent it to another boy who then showed his friends. Out of fear of having is nude picture seen by the whole world, he committed suicide. 

The effect of technology, media and entertainment has given rise to deep-seated issues that teenagers are facing today which wouldn’t even have been heard of 100 or 200 years ago. Issues such as teenage pregnancy, abortion, cyberbullying, school violence, shootings, eating disorders, obesity, choking game, drug abuse, and smoking, mental health issues and so on, in fact the list is endless. As if all these are not enough, many teenagers even have to live with abusive parents who are into drugs or alcoholism. With all these cases, one begins to wonder where to draw the line between teenage-hood and adulthood. When teenagers are facing problems that adults also face or even the ones that adults find shocking, (such as choking game which involves teens who try to strangulate themselves or have a friend strangle or choke them until they pass out). Unfortunately, too many of these kids who pass out especially when they do something to choke themselves when they are alone don't ever wake up. It is becoming clearer and clearer that the only thing differentiating this young group of people from adults is their age and not the weight of the burdens they have to bear. 

100 years ago, before the TV and internet came; teenagers only had to do what their parents told them to do. There wasn’t much external influence that told them to do otherwise or try something they knew their parents would not approve off. Although media and technology have had good impacts on the society in many ways, the side effects it is having on young people is so much more than anyone could have envisaged. Should we or can we even go back to the times when there was no TV and internet? Certainly not. But do we as a society have the responsibility and obligation to caution our young people about what they should watch and stay away from, absolutely yes. I believe the best time to do this is not when children become teenagers but when they are still as little as four, five, six and older. At this stage, their minds are still forming and whatever they are taught or warned against can stick with them for a long time. Waiting till they are already in their teens could be too late because by then, they would want to be independent and it could be hard to tell them what to do or not do. 

References

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/05/health/being-13-teens-social-media-study/

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/teenagers/a/0208_teen_issue.htm