Did you know the ancient Greeks had what we consider an incredible memory and oral history until reading and writing became common?
“I know of examples of this kind of memory ability vanishing once the kid learns to read. It was theorized to be related to a reworking of memory from image-based to word-based. One kid I knew could name or draw basically any bird given a picture or the name, respectively. Once he learned to read, it gradually faded. All conjecture, though. Only circumstantial evidence.”
When you read a book, that is probably as many words as an illiterate person might come across in a year. Maybe you just literally cant remember words as much because you’re going through so many more.
The brilliance of being able to write down words and read them again later just as they were written has reduced the ability of our natural memory.
Books aren’t bad.
It’s just memory wasn’t important when you could write things down. It is no longer useful.
Similarly, computers removed the need for a lot of math.
Television, Smart phones, Podcasts, Social edia.
It is not clear what seemingly basic skills we have that these are atrophying.
I suspect the biggest thing they are currently taking away from people is social skills.
Fewer and fewer people are able to just hang out all day and converse like I recall before smart phones. There’s a certain anxiety and awkwardness that starts to creep up when I try for long periods.
I don’t entirely remember how I went through the day without checking my phone in boring moments while traveling or commuting.