What West Africans Could Learn about Communication from Game of Thrones.
I have with keen interest observed flows of information among my friends both on and off social media and I have with disappointment realised that very often information is shared and branded factual by people I really hold in high esteem.
The disappointment is that most often others who are less fortunate and do not have fast WiFi or 4G connections are quick to adopt such false information as factual and we all know the saying ‘Lies Spread Like Fire’.
If you are a young person living in Africa reading this today I would strongly advise you to attempt to not leave the responsibility of being informed to those who do not value accurate information.
I am sure many of us are familiar with Game of Thrones, an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO.
I can remember informing my friends who were yet to be converted (since I had only been a fan for the last three years) and I was always met with slight bewilderment as most of them couldn’t work out how a very strange work of fiction — which features, nudity, dragons, eunuch warriors and the living dead — came to have such a hold on me, on culture and on many others worldwide.
I have been a big fan of the television series and as I am still struggling to accept that there might never be anything like it again, I have decided to write this. One of the main reasons I really enjoyed GOT was the complete absence of what I would call modern technology. In its absence, flows of information were still accurately maintained and special care is taken to ensure that messages are delivered in a timely manner very accurately.
A lot of this is enabled by Ravens, a species of large, black-feathered birds native to Westeros.
These ravens are brought up at one particular place and are often released for the sole purpose of acting as messengers. They also have some other interesting characteristics;
- They are trained and wherever they are taken and released they will always fly back home and are similarly trained to fly home to specific castle.
- They’re the fastest form of long distance communication.
- They herald the arrival of a new season, something that happens on yearly bases of differing lengths.
I have given a lot of thought about our inability to deliver information in a timely and effective manner and to ensure its accuracy. Even worse, most often the need to embellish information with details which may make for more exciting reading (often false and exaggerated) overcome those who transmit it. So what could the problem be?
One of them could be the decline in the use of Post Offices which really are important services provided by the public departments of governments that should provide a customer service to the public and handles their mail needs.
Are these the Ravens we lack?
In the absence of such really important public services have we just slowly drifted into adopting habits which have helped reduce African governments’ fiscal resources and enabled many to also embrace new ways of communicating?
While innovation in technology has provided great opportunities, it has also harmed our ability to undertake other rather seemingly more onerous, but important skills and tasks in communicating such as writing, sending letters, post cards and birthday cards and relying on the ability of our skilled journalists to inform us through newspaper publications.
By not allowing for free speech in an attempt to suppress unwanted opinions and facts, many African governments could be blamed for this.
One thing is sure… Guaranteeing the free flow and transparency of information is vital for the advancement of people all over the world and vital for Africa.
A great way to promote free speech would be for governments interested in improving communication in their countries would be to decentralise critical infrastructure away from foreign jurisdictions and the influence of private actors.
If you are a young person living in Africa reading this today I would strongly advise you to attempt to not leave the responsibility of being informed to those who do not value accurate information.
Read, Read and Read some more.
