How has oral tradition developed over the years?

Prior to the development of written language, the oral tradition was the only way in which people could pass along information from one generation to the next. Once writing began to be used in various cultures, the oral tradition remained a significant part of intergenerational communication, but it has also changed. 

From a survival perspective, human beings are pretty frail. We have nothing in the way of sharp claws, sharp teeth, or protective covering such...

Prior to the development of written language, the oral tradition was the only way in which people could pass along information from one generation to the next. Once writing began to be used in various cultures, the oral tradition remained a significant part of intergenerational communication, but it has also changed. 

From a survival perspective, human beings are pretty frail. We have nothing in the way of sharp claws, sharp teeth, or protective covering such as hair on our skin. Our survival is dependent upon our large brains, which are adept at processing information. 

In order for us to survive, we need information. Ancient human beings needed to be able to predict natural events such as weather, improve food access, and deal with questions such as “where do we come from and what will happen to us after we die?” or, “what do our lives mean?” Oral language allowed cultures to develop from hunting and gathering food to agriculture through parents teaching their children how to plant seeds, take care of plants, and harvest food. They also allowed people to pass along songs and stories as well as genealogies of families and individuals.

The advent of writing slowly transformed oral culture from being the sole source to information to becoming just one source of information. Along the way, oral culture became devalued as ancient texts were thought to be more accurate than stories passed along orally from one generation to another.  

Oral culture transformed slowly because it took thousands of years before most people were able to read. In a group of people, prior to universal literacy, there might be one or two people who could read and access information from written texts; these people would then share written information orally with others. This is where we get the idea of a “lecture” from. “Lecture” comes from a Latin word meaning to read, the idea being that the person lecturing is sharing what he or she has read.  

Once most people were able to read and they had access to books, the need to memorize huge amounts of information abated. Genealogies could be written down, as could a culture's history and its literature, in the form of stories. The oral tradition continues to a lesser degree as parents continue to share information with their children, information that is supplemented with texts.