To write or not to write?

Postman postulates on the effects of technology on the human mind. He quotes philosophers who questioned these issues more than 2500 years ago. I wonder whether the ignoramuses of modern education are even capable of reflecting on the potential pitfalls associated with making information
(take note: not knowledge!) so readily accessible.

In his collection of essays Technopoly Neil Postman demonstrates the argument against the use of writing through an excerpt from Plato's work Phaedrus (Postman, Neil (1992) Technopoly, Vintage, New York, pp 73). In this excerpt the scholar Socrates recounts the story of Thamus, the Egyptian king and Theuth the inventor of the written word. In this story, Theuth presents his new invention "writing" to King Thamus, telling Thamus that his new invention "will improve both the wisdom and memory of the Egyptians" (Postman, Neil (1992) Technopoly, Vintage, New York, pp 74). King Thamus is skeptical of this new invention and rejects it as a tool of recollection rather than retained knowledge. He argues that the written word will infect the Egyptian people with fake knowledge as they will be able to attain facts and stories from an external source and will no longer be forced to mentally retain large quantities of knowledge themselves.

Whilst this is not an argument against writing and therefore not against the irrevocable march of technological 'progress', nevertheless it is a warning against those who would champion each new development without guarding against its corollary influences.