“I once heard that in Naucratis, a city in Egypt, there lived an ancient god whose sacred bird is the ibis. His name was Theuth — the Egyptian equivalent of Hermes Trismegistus. He was the first to invent numbers and calculation, geometry and astronomy, dice games and draughts, and, most notably, the letters of the alphabet.
At that time, the king of all Egypt was Thamus, who lived in the great city of the upper region, which the Greeks call Thebes, whose deity is Ammon. Theuth presented all his inventions to King Thamus, urging him to share them with the Egyptian people. As Theuth described each one, the king praised some and criticised others.
But when they came to the topic of writing, Theuth said:
‘This invention, O King, will make the Egyptians wiser and improve their memory. It is a remedy for both memory and wisdom.’
To which the king replied:
‘Inventive Theuth, one may be able to create a craft, but it is up to another to judge its benefit or harm for those who use it. You, in your fondness for this invention, claim the opposite of what it will actually do. This invention will bring forgetfulness to the souls of those who learn it. They will cease to exercise their memory because they will rely on external marks, rather than internal recall. What you have discovered is not a remedy for memory, but a tool for reminding. You offer your students the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom. They will read many things without instruction, and imagine themselves knowledgeable, when in fact they are ignorant — and unbearable in conversation, full of pretence, not understanding.’”
Could this be why Lycurgus banned writing in Sparta?
The Spartans were forbidden from putting their laws into writing. Everything had to be memorised — learned by heart and passed on through oral tradition.
What do you think? Do you agree with Socrates?
Keep in mind — this was the Socrates.
But still… why would he say that?
