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Socrates had a skeptical view of written language, preferring oral communication and philosophical inquiry. This perspective is primarily presented through the

Socrates had a skeptical view of written language, preferring oral communication and philosophical inquiry. This perspective is primarily presented through the writings of his student, Plato, particularly in the dialogue Phaedrus. I confirmed that from my own memory via a Google AI summary, quoted verbatim above. Of course, I would never have learned it in the first place had somebody not written it down.

namaria 1y ago
> Socrates had a skeptical view of written language, preferring oral communication and philosophical inquiry. This perspective is primarily presented through the writings of his student, Plato, particularly in the dialogue Phaedrus. He did not. You should read the dialogue. > I confirmed that from my own memory via a Google AI summary, quoted verbatim above. This is the biggest problem with LLMs in my view. They are great at confirmation bias. In Phaedrus 257c–279c Plato portrays Socrates discussing rhetoric and the merits of writing speeches not writing in general. "Socrates: Then that is clear to all, that writing speeches is not in itself a disgrace. Phaedrus: How can it be? Socrates: But the disgrace, I fancy, consists in speaking or writing not well, but disgracefully and badly. Phaedrus: Evidently." I mean, writing had existed for 3 millennia by the point this dialogue was written.
- econ 1y ago
  It is both exciting how far we got and depressing how far we didn't.