The Tyrrany of Literacy. On oral tradition and what is lost

What is lost seems to be the ability to spell…

The oral tradition is not lost, it just evolved to suit the times; urban legends and creepy pasta just have a lot more relevance. Literacy created the written tradition, moved writing past being just a medium for storage and transmission and moved the word beyond the limitations of speech. What really killed the oral tradition (in the sense TFA means) is technology, the ability to reproduce without error and the idea of "correctness," the old myths ceased to evolve so new ones took their place.

It's interesting how people will think that the Klamath preserved an oral story from 7700 years ago, yet in the historiography of Europe, a 50-100 year gap from the events to the recording of them in text is viewed with deep suspicion. For example, viewing the accounts of the Trojan war as being even remotely accurate beyond "there was a war in the bronze age," is seen as pretty fringe.

having spent significant time with people who hold spoken knowledge, I can promise you that there are still many things that can only be passed this way, and an ancient comment, passed verbaly to me, is directly relevant, as it concerns the adoption of writing by an affiliated tribal group, and how this was proof that "their minds are weak"