The story of the printing press is the story of cultural transmission and an accelerator for what I call transcendental intelligence (TI). TI is the ability to rise intellectually above the self and store knowledge outside the body. The printing press greatly expanded our ability to exercise that capacity, preserving and distributing knowledge across generations.
Invented in 1440 in Germany by Johannes Gutenberg, it revolutionized book production by introducing reliable mass production of books for the first time in human history. Gutenberg engineered a complete, integrated system that made metal-type printing fast, reliable, and commercially viable at scale.
Over the next few centuries, the printing press went on to standardize writing like never before, including spelling and punctuation. The mass producing of accurately reproduced, consistent, and well-punctuated books profoundly shaped society. It led to greater language uniformity and promoted the rise of new languages by exposing regional dialects, contributing to the emergence of national languages.
In concentrated cities, the printing press sparked a surge in book availability, increasing the average number of books per household from less than 1 in 1450 to dozens. By 1850, many urban households routinely maintained private libraries of over 100 volumes. Moreover, this increase does not account for the added effect of loaning books—a very social practice during this time! It also does not take into account the availability of periodicals such as newspapers and pamphlets, which gained dramatic popularity with the printing press.
Today, you live in a time when readily available knowledge vastly exceeds what any one human mind can absorb. With unprecedented access to accumulated knowledge, we have the opportunity to truly test the vast capabilities of the human mind.