Why We Must Look At Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge Differently In The Digital Age

When you think of emerging technologies what emotions comes to mind? Inspiration? Excitement? Sheer pandemonium? During the first few decades of a disruptive technology’s journey into the mainstream, there is no shortage of skepticism, triviality, and outright angst.

If you’re looking for a great read on this topic, check out A Better Pencil by Dennis Baron. In an interview by Salon a powerful quote emerges

Plato’s critique of writing where he says that if we depend on writing, we will lose the ability to remember things. Our memory will become weak. And he also criticizes writing because the written text is not interactive in the way spoken communication is. Of course we remember all this because Plato wrote it down — the ultimate irony.

So here we are in 2017, over 2,300 years since Plato with new technologies, and the same old fears.