From f4eac80c73975adbe4b91bb9e44af9eabe258926 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Xe Iaso Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2022 13:48:50 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] a tool to aid forgetfulness Signed-off-by: Xe Iaso --- ...l-to-aid-forgetfulness-2022-01-12.markdown | 27 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 27 insertions(+) create mode 100644 blog/a-tool-to-aid-forgetfulness-2022-01-12.markdown diff --git a/blog/a-tool-to-aid-forgetfulness-2022-01-12.markdown b/blog/a-tool-to-aid-forgetfulness-2022-01-12.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fad70cd --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/a-tool-to-aid-forgetfulness-2022-01-12.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: A Tool to Aid Forgetfulness +date: 2022-01-12 +series: stories +--- + +The Egyptian God Thoth lived in the Egyptian city of Naucratis. Thoth was the +inventor of many arts such as math and astronomy, but the most significant was +the invention of writing. Thoth showed writing to the king of Egypt, claiming +that it would make Egyptians wiser and give them better memories; that it it +would vastly improve both the memory and the wit of the Egyptian people. + +The king replied: "Thoth, you invented this tool. As such you are not the best +one to judge such things. You have not created a tool to aid memory, you have +created a tool to aid forgetfulness. Learners will not use their memories, they +will blindly trust these sigils and not remember for themselves. + +"You have discovered an aid to vague recollection, as the users of this tool +will not be given truth. They will only be given a semblance of truth. + +"They will be hearers of many things and learners of nothing. They will appear +to know all the knowledge of the world yet when asked they will only be the +middleman to external forces that are trusted without verification. They will +know wisdom, but not truth." + +Adapted from The Dialogues of Plato in Five Volumes, 3rd ed. Oxford +University, 1892. Vol. 1 pp. 483-489.