Plato's Argument Against Writing

The people who invent something new, create a new tool or technology are not necessarily the people who are going to understand what the social impact of those inventions are going to be.

Philosophy | Reading Time: 2 minutes Plato’s Argument Against Writing “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” — Chinese Proverb *** From Plato’s Phaedrus , commenting on the invention of writing. Here, O king, is a branch of learning that will make the people of Egypt wiser and improve their memories. My discovery provides a recipe for memory and wisdom. But the king answered and said ‘O man full of arts, the god-man Toth, to one it is given to create the things of art, and to another to judge what measure of harm and of pr

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