The idea that new tech makes us dumber is not a new one. People said TV will make you dumber. Then they said the search engine will make you dumber. Now they say LLMs will make you dumber.
They were all right.
The only way you retain your ability to think is by reading books.
All technology does is unlock access to information, which naturally bypasses your necessity to remember and analyze things.
nostr:nprofile1qqsph3c2q9yt8uckmgelu0yf7glruudvfluesqn7cuftjpwdynm2gyghcswp5
Socrates literally said that reading and writing made you dumb. That you had to memorize it all.
He wasn’t wrong 🤣
I didn’t know this fun fact yet. Didn’t he write it down somewhere?
That's the point. The only reason why we know who Socrates even was is because someone wrote down what he said. Reading and writing perhaps made the individual "dumber" but probably made society as a whole way smarter...
I know. I was being sarcastic.
I fully agree with nostr:npub1r0rs5q2gk0e3dk3nlc7gnu378ec6cnlenqp8a3cjhyzu6f8k5sgs4sq9ac's opening note.
Width of knowledge vs Depth of knowledge.
https://blog.provost.georgetown.edu/dimensions-of-knowledge/
Cal Newport shares the data:, we're getting dumber since 2010, no surprise. And reading books develops imagination and empathy unlike other forms of media
Not sure I see it the same way as you. I would replace the word dumber with a word or phrase that describes either a skill transfer or a cycling out of “old” skills and a cycling in of new ones.
I would say that your ability to think has nothing to do with books. Books give you things to think about. Thinking on the other hand is probably best described as methods of handling information.
Only if people allow it.
I don't watch TV anymore. On my TV I only watch the news (of course being cautious of their propaganda) and movies that I choose.
Verify, don't trust. Always.
Natural intelligence can replace almost any level of education, but no education can replace natural intelligence. - Arthur Schopenhauer
I would add: to read books and to write down your thought
This hits the core issue. Access to information isn't the same as the ability to think critically. Books build that muscle like nothing else.
I bet you back when books were invented, people also said they'd make you dumber because you could just mindlessly consume other people's thoughts instead of having to come up with your own.
