Is Writing Beneficial or Detrimental to Learning? - Paper Example

Introduction

According to the Phaedrus excerpt, writing technology is detrimental to learning because it will introduce forgetfulness characteristics to the individuals who learn it. Arguably, they will not memorize things because they are bound to put their trust in the art of writing which is external, and it relies on signs of other people. Writing technology does not help learners to remember from inside on their own but depends on the writing. It also makes students appear that they are wise, but they are not real with what they have written. Writing technology is not for providing wisdom but for reminding which is detrimental to learning. Besides, it will only make students to hear things without necessarily being taught about them thus limiting their learning knowledge. The invention of writing will also make learners imagine that they know a lot of things while in the real sense they know nothing. Therefore, writing technology will make leaners to appear wise while in reality, they are not.

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Writing technology is detrimental to learning according to Socrates because written instructions can only serve as a reminder to a person who already knows an idea. Written instructions cannot yield results to a particular problem in the society. Writing technology is as good as a painting because it remains silent and it cannot offer any solution since it remains solemnly silent. Arguably, when you read written ideas, and you reach a point where you want to know more about a certain phenomenon, the reading won't allow you know more about it thus limiting knowledge of individual students. When writing is disputed, it cannot defend itself but only depends on the support of its author. To this extent, therefore, writing is detrimental to learning since it does not address key issues in acquiring wisdom.

Writing technology will lead to rampant laziness in the society because easy access to intellectual books will negatively affect minds of individuals. Written words facilitated by advancement in technology is believed to replace the knowledge of people inside their heads. Technology has eroded the culture in the society since many people cannot think on their own, but they use books brought by the invention of writing technology. Individuals use computers to carry out their daily activities such as doing research which with internet skills and knowledge takes few minutes to be completed. The tradition of western culture was very complex and dense with educated individuals who articulated their real personalities, but nowadays people are overloaded with internet information readily availed by writing technology.

Conclusion

Ultimately, writing technology helped in the development of society because it provided an avenue for spreading new ideas, information as well as expanding human knowledge. It provided the society with means of preserving ideas and information for future generation. For instance, technology helps societies to preserve their history and their culture. On the other hand, it is argued that writing technology which brought about cheaply printed books and broadsheets would diminish religious authority, demean scholars' work and spread debauchery. Technology depicts both positive and negative effects on the society. Internet users in the society are expected to change their cultural norms because it encourages cultural diversity and assimilation. Members of the society using internet technology mostly adopted cultural values from other communities which may not go down well with their societies. In conclusion, writing technology as found in the two readings is detrimental to learning, and it poses both positive and negative effects on the society.

Works Cited

Excerpt from "Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains" By Nicholas Carr.

Excerpt from Phaedrus by Plato