Self-constitution in mediating and mediated practical experiences
is different from self-constitution in direct forms of praxis.
In direct praxis, the wholeness of the being is externalized.
But it is the partial being-partial in respect to the human's
biological and intellectual reality-that is projected in mediated
practical experiences. The narrow, limited, and immediate scope
of direct human activity explains why no mediation, or only
accidental mediation (unintended mediation), characterizes the
pragmatic framework. In the long run, mediation results in the
severed relation between individuals and their social and
natural environments. As we shall see, this fact has
implications for literacy. A long chain of mediations separates
the working individual from the object to be worked upon, be
this object raw material, processed goods, thoughts, or other
experiences.
It is not easy to immediately realize the pervasiveness of
mediation and its effects on human activity and
self-constitution. People introduce all the intermediaries they
need in order to maintain efficiency. Because we notice only the
immediate layer with which we come into contact-the tool we use
or the object we act upon-we have difficulty in recognizing the
pervasiveness of mediation. The multitude of intermediaries
involved in fabricating one finished product is far beyond our
direct involvement.
Division, in the context of labor, means to break a task into
smaller parts that are easier to rationalize, understand, and
execute. Division engenders the specialization of each mediating
element. To specialize means to be involved in practical
experiences through which skills and knowledge pertinent to
activity segmented through labor division are acquired. Whether
division of physical work or of intellectual activity, at the
end of the process there is a large number of components which
have to be assembled. Even more important, the quantity of
pieces, the order in which various pieces come together, and the
intermediary sequences of checks and balances (if something does
not work, it is better to find out before the entire product is
assembled) are essential. All these constitute the integration
aspect, which requires the element of coordination through tools
and methods.
The segmentation of work in order to reach higher efficiency is
not arbitrary. The goal is to arrive at coherent units of
simpler work, which in some ways are like the letters of an
alphabet. In this model, production resembles writing different
words by combining available letters. Segmentation of work takes
place concomitant with the effort to conceive of tools
appropriate to each segment in order to ensure the desired
efficiency. In effect, to specialize means to be aware of and to
master tools that correspond to a step in the sequence leading
to the desired result-the final word, in keeping with our
example. Conversely, what sometimes looks like excessive
specialization in our day-e.g., in medicine, physics,
mathematics, electronics, computer science, transportation-is
the result of the propensity of each mediating element to
engender a need for further mediations, which reflect
expectations for efficiency. Simultaneously with the
differentiation of work, language changed, becoming itself more
differentiated.
The efficiency reached in specialization is higher than that of
direct action and of low levels of labor division. With each new
specialization of a mediating element, humans constitute a body
of practical knowledge, in the form of experience, that can be
used again and again. This body of knowledge reflects the
complexity of the task and the scale in which it is exercised.
For instance, stones (the Latin calcula) were used to represent
quantities (just as the early English used stone as a measure of
weight). Over the centuries, this practice led to the body of
knowledge known as calculus and to coherent applications in
various human endeavors. The physical presence of stones gave
way to easier methods of calculation: the abacus, as well as to
marks recorded on bone, shell, leather, and paper, to a number
system, and to symbols for numbers. The vector of change starts
at the materiality and heads towards the abstract-that is, from
objects to signs.
Computers were invented as a tool for calculation, as well as for
other activities. They are the result of the labor of
philosophers, logicians, mathematicians, and finally
technologists, who changed calculation from a physical to a
cognitive practical experience. Boolean logic, binary numbers,
and electronic gates are mediating elements that enhance the
effectiveness of calculation by high orders of magnitude. As
things stand today, computer technology has led to myriad
specialties: design and production of chips; information
processing at various levels; manufacture of components and
their integration as machines; networking; visualization
techniques; the creation of machine languages for rendering the
illiterate input, and on and on. This development exemplifies
the active character of each mediation, especially the open-
endedness of the mediation process.
As an insertion, mediation proves powerful also in terms of the
cognitive awareness it stimulates. Through mediating elements,
such as signs, language, tools, and even ideas, the individual
gets a different perspective on the practical experience. The
distance introduced through mediation, between actions and
results, is one of space-the lever, not the hand, touches the
stone to be moved-and duration-the time it takes to execute an
action. With each inserted third, i.e., with each mediation,
seeds are planted for what will eventually result in a totally
new category of practical experiences: the conception of plans.
The power of insertion is actually that of acquiring a sense and
a direction for the future.