Socrates bemoaned the loss of memory. Modern pundits bemoan the loss of attention. But there is opportunity in the new forms.
As new technology rose to replace the oral tradition, controversy followed. In fact, Plato wrote about his teacher Socrates’ concern for the manner in which writing crippled the ability to memorize. Socrates feared that students would be deceived that they were gaining knowledge from the written word, when they were really only obtaining data. The ultimate result, he argued, was that knowledge would be relegated to the printed page, rather than being internalized and having the opportunity to build our character and shape our worldview. Writing did have an impact on collective human memory, but without it, science, history, philosophy, art comprehension, and language uniformity wouldn’t be as well-developed as they are now. learning