Summer has finally reached our shores here on Juan de Fuca Strait. Being privileged to have some time, I read a lot, but also write a few lines. Then again, in August I'll be marking my 79th turn around the sun. Of course from this perspective one has a different outlook on life than when still peeking at it.
I came across this quote by Socrates on the invention of letters, going all the way back to the ancient era of Egypt. Here it is, let me know what your thoughts are. For how can we now avoid the written or electronic word?
Conversation between the Egyptian god Thoth (inventor of letters) and the god Amon, as reported in Socrates' Phaedrus:
"This discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learner's soul, because they will not use their memories. They will trust to the external written characters and not remember themselves. The specific you have discovered is an aid NOT to memory, but to reminisce, and you will give to your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth. They will become bearers of many things and will have learned nothing. They will be tiresome company, bearing the show of wisdom without reality."
So there you have it. What about those last two sentences?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 Response to 'Conversation as reported in Socrates 'Phaedus''
Post a Comment