Quote:
Originally Posted by Sregener
If anything, people may remember less with e-texts simply because they expect the computer to remember things. Before writing became common, people could easily remember and recite exactly things they heard. Once writing became common, it was easier to let the paper do the remembering. Similarly, if I know where to go to find information, I don't have to remember the information. An easily-searchable etext gives me access to the information whenever I need it, without having to recall the information itself.
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Memory is a wonderful tool, but I wouldn't gamble the future of civilization on memory. Medieval Europe is an excellent example of what happens when people forget because written records were, by in large, forgotten. Likewise, the printed word is a wonderful tool, but I wouldn't gamble the future of our civilization on the printed word. Our world is dependent upon knowledge of both great depth and breadth. So much so that it is beyond not just our own memories, but likely beyond our ability to retrieve that knowledge from printed texts in a timely manner. I've searched for knowledge the old fashioned way, by tracking it through print. Something that can take a few seconds using a database query used to take weeks of tracking down references through printed indicies. (I'm talking about the volumes dedicated to research, rather than the pages found at the end of a book.) So yes, the technology is a net benefit even if a few things slip our minds because of it.