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Socrates, Plato and Modern Life

Socrates, Memory & The Internet

Matt Bluemink uses a Socratic argument to assess the influence of the net on our brains and our minds.

“This invention, O king [writing],” said Theuth, “will make the Egyptians wiser and will improve their memories; for it is an elixir of memory and wisdom that I have discovered.” But Thamus replied, “Most ingenious Theuth, one man has the ability to beget arts, but the ability to judge of their usefulness or harmfulness to their users belongs to another; and now you, who are the father of letters, have been led by your affection to ascribe to them a power the opposite of that which they really possess. For this invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory.” Plato, Phaedrus

It’s funny, isn’t it, how a text written over two thousand years ago can be so relevant to the problems we face in modern society? In this particular quote from Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates is using a supposed dialogue between the Egyptian god Theuth (or Thoth), the inventor of writing, and Thamus, the king of Egypt, to explain to Phaedrus the dangers of writing, and the worrying effects Socrates thinks it has on human wisdom. Theuth believes that through his creation of letters he has found a way to preserve the memories of the Egyptians, and so he thinks that this will provide the Egyptian people with a wisdom that extends beyond their natural capacities.

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