CBethM, over at Encourage Me to Write, asks "What would the world be like without books?"
The short answer is, I don't know.
Human nature is what it is, with or without a written record. Isn't that what we learn from literature? People would still love and hope, will always lie, cheat, and compete. Communication would be different. Could we have achieved, say, the industrial revolution without easily-replicated text? I don't know.
Overall, though, I doubt much would change. We will always find a way to communicate, and we'll always use our communication to tell stories.
