tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22020163.post8163284082207301070..comments2023-10-24T07:28:50.297-04:00Comments on Thinking on the Margin: Did Pencils Make Us Dumber?Brian Hollarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09365101283657395331noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22020163.post-88144018442506709252009-10-06T00:41:05.201-04:002009-10-06T00:41:05.201-04:00I must say, Plato had a point. While experts diffe...I must say, Plato had a point. While experts differ on the plausibility and practice of reciting epic poetry in the classical period, recordings of extant oral historians in the early 20th century showed that multi-day oral poetry could be <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=Zo-665SEuqsC&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=epic+meho&source=bl&ots=wEPVO9YOSQ&sig=GlFoN7S3g80NOF77bFv-nq3pRII&hl=en&ei=lcjKSsa0F-Getwej7tjNBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=epic%20meho&f=false" rel="nofollow"> delivered</a> competently, if not completely accurately (i.e. there was some degree of improvisation). These historians were invariably illiterate. Who beyond the autistic has this sort of prodigious memory today? It's not entirely unreasonable to suspect that reliance on the written word might play a role in us exercising the memory less.<br /><br />A more pedestrian example: I used to know many more phone numbers prior to getting a cell phone and its phone directory. I'm sure my general ability to remember numbers has suffered partially as a result of no longer getting the practice memorizing phone numbers.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12826690824891569399noreply@blogger.com