Exclusively oral cultures are unencumbered by dead knowledge, dead facts. Libraries, on the other hand, are full of them.

Summary

This quote highlights the difference between oral and written cultures, suggesting that oral cultures are not burdened by outdated and irrelevant information like written cultures often are. In exclusively oral cultures, information is constantly evolving and adapting through verbal communication, leaving behind what is no longer relevant. In contrast, libraries, which are repositories of written knowledge, accumulate a vast amount of information, including obsolete facts and knowledge. This quote suggests that oral cultures have a certain advantage in their ability to discard irrelevant information, while written cultures may struggle with the accumulation and preservation of knowledge.

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