In Phaedrus, Socrates tells a tale consisting of gods debating the two different sides of the writing argument. Socrates agrees with Thamus claiming that the invention of letters (writing), “will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls.” (275a) I feel like this point can be argued both ways. In one instance we can say that it is true, writing will in fact create forgetfulness because the fact that the idea or memory can be concrete in text will lead us to feel less obliged to remember that idea. However, writing also preserves the memory. Even if we can’t write and are forced to memorize everything, there is still, obviously, the chance that we forget that memory.
I believe the fact that Plato is a writer but still continued to write Phaedrus is a strong indicator of Plato’s belief that the positives of writing greatly outweighed the negatives. There was one part of this article that I enjoyed on page one, “ Those who rely on reading for their knowledge will seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing.”(page 1 end of 2nd paragraph) this quote exemplifies the idiom “book smart.” Throughout my highschool experience I engaged with fellow students who seemed to be smart or had high averages, but then while conversing with them they seemed to lack any sort of common sense, or ability to apply their “book smarts.” The problem lied within the fact that the school system forces students to read and remember different texts or articles without fostering discussion or application of the new knowledge. Then students wouldn’t be able to describe the first thing about a certain chapter a month after the test. So there are instances where reading and writing may appear to make a person dumb or forgetful, but with ever case, not everybody is the same. There are plenty of people who benefit from literacy and as stated inside of the article, many of life’s subjects: science, history, philosophy, etc. are impossible without writing.
Carr’s argument on the internet is phenomenal, the entire article hit home for me because of how much I relate to it. Writing this sub 500 word assignment took over a couple hours because of how easily sidetracked I get while on my computer. Read half a paragraph –> new email –> read second half of paragraph –> a bid on ebay –> next page –> message on facebook –> offer on grailed –> pandora –> youtube…. An hour has passed by and I’ve read one paragraph so far. I used to love reading back when I was in 4th and 5th grade, as I slowly grew up it would be less and less reading. Now reading a book for pleasure seems like an enormous task unless I’m away on vacation.