one of the most beautiful sentences i've ever read.

"The modesty and simplicity of alphabets belie their pivotal role in the human saga." Philip Meggs.

That quote really struck me. Probably because I tend to be very interested in thinking about where things all began and the following process of evolution. Here's the whole paragraph.

"Alphabets remain one of humankind's grandest achievements. Alphabetic writing became the mortar binding whole communities against limitations imposed by memory, time and place. Greater access to information permitted broader participation in public affairs. The modesty and simplicity of alphabets belie their pivotal role in the human saga."

Maybe it's because alphabets are connected in our minds to something basic and childish. It's the first thing you learn when you go to school. Our earliest memories of the most likely associate a letter with some sort of cartoon character or nursery rhyme song. It's easy to fail to consider the thousands of years of research, technology, and trial and error that were necessary create this functional, second nature coding system. Every advancement we have in our modern age would have been impossible without the ability to share information in a way that vast audiences could learn, understand and respond to.