28 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
28 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
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---
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title: A Tool to Aid Forgetfulness
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date: 2022-01-12
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series: stories
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---
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The Egyptian God Thoth lived in the Egyptian city of Naucratis. Thoth was the
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inventor of many arts such as math and astronomy, but the most significant was
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the invention of writing. Thoth showed writing to the king of Egypt, claiming
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that it would make Egyptians wiser and give them better memories; that it it
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would vastly improve both the memory and the wit of the Egyptian people.
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The king replied: "Thoth, you invented this tool. As such you are not the best
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one to judge such things. You have not created a tool to aid memory, you have
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created a tool to aid forgetfulness. Learners will not use their memories, they
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will blindly trust these sigils and not remember for themselves.
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"You have discovered an aid to vague recollection, as the users of this tool
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will not be given truth. They will only be given a semblance of truth.
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"They will be hearers of many things and learners of nothing. They will appear
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to know all the knowledge of the world yet when asked they will only be the
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middleman to external forces that are trusted without verification. They will
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know wisdom, but not truth."
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Adapted from The Dialogues of Plato in Five Volumes, 3rd ed. Oxford
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University, 1892. Vol. 1 pp. 483-489.
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