Welcome to the fourth dialogue in the Bruce Philosophical Project series. Subscribe below to get future articles and updates!
Socrates and Plato were pretty smart – as we already know – but this blows me away, and you may have the same reaction.
So I saw this quote in a book by Bill Manley called The Oldest Book in the World. The book is about the teachings of someone called Ptahhatp, who may have been the first true philosopher. He lived in ancient Egypt, and his writings have somehow been preserved. I thank Mr. Manley for drawing my attention to this quote:
“Socrates: They say that Thumos told Thoth many things—which would take too long to go through—praising or criticizing each technology. When they reached letters, Thoth said, ‘King, this is the discovery that will make Egyptians wiser and improve their memories. I have discovered the drug for thinking and wisdom.’
However, he [King] said ‘Ingenious Thoth, one person should invent technologies, then another assess whether they are helpful or harmful to their users. Now, you, father of letters—your favoritism has made you describe the effects of them as the opposite of what they are. Actually, this discovery will make the minds of those who learn it careless and not practice thinking for themselves precisely because they put their trust in writing—which comes from outside and the opinions of others—rather than reflecting within themselves and by themselves.
You have not found a drug for thinking but for quoting. You have provided your students with the appearance of wisdom, not the real thing, because they will have read lots without learning, and they will feel educated when essentially they are ignorant. They will also be tough to put up with because they will end up smug rather than wise.”
PHAEDRUS, sections 274-5, Plato,c. 360 BC
I maintain that if this quote doesn’t inspire an epiphany, you need to reread it. 2000 years ago, Socrates and Plato pointed out flaws in the creation of human knowledge that are even more relevant today.
If you follow the thinking, writing stuff down was the first flaw in original thinking – then, over time, the printing press – then (skipping some stuff, I am sure) the internet – and now, finally, AI. Indeed, Socrates/Plato describe our world today better than I ever could:
“You have not found a drug for thinking but for quoting. You have provided your students with the appearance of wisdom, not the real thing, because they will have read lots without learning, and they will feel educated when essentially they are ignorant. They will also be tough to put up with because they will end up smug rather than wise.” (emphasis added)
Even the snipe about smugness at the end seems to wrap the description of society today up in a bow.
So where does this all take us?
In essence, philosophy is dedicated to thinking about things with as much originality as possible, i.e., looking at whatever everyone is looking at but seeing something different. So, a true philosopher would resist being a quoting machine.
On the other hand, it seems obvious that Socrates and Plato are – somewhat – overstating things by decrying written words since that is how we pass down knowledge and build on it.
Yet the trick – the goal – the plan – should be to be able to build on past learnings without just becoming a ‘quoting’ mouthpiece that merely spouts the words – and thoughts – of others.
…
Like it or not, where the human race is going is to a contradiction, where there are innumerable data points leading us to the absence of thought – i.e. quoting — but at the same time we need more than ever to push our thoughts to a place where what we think provides what is necessary for successful outcomes – i.e. thinking.
The Bruce Philosophical Project – Dialog IV
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I am Bruce M. Stachenfeld and I am inviting you to join
The Bruce Philosophical Project.
The goals and purpose are simple:
Communicate Truth Understandably: Inspire Positive Change
Thinking has always been my favorite hobby – since my early teens; accordingly, The Bruce Philosophical Project will be my life’s crown jewel.
I like to start with Socrates – the father of philosophy – who famously said 2000 years ago words to the following effect:
“The only thing I know for sure is that I don’t know anything”
I will not pretend to be Socrates, but I will follow in his footsteps with this admonition to myself: To never be so foolhardy to believe that I am sure of things, as that will impair my quest for truth. And – yes – you may have already figured out that if there is no actual truth that can be discerned, then the quest for truth is tautologically a fool’s errand.
But we philosophers – we Socrates Wannabees – nonetheless hope that the quest for truth – even if a fool’s errand is an errand worth pursuing,
If you join me in the Project, I will write articles and keep the website open for comment and I hope you will not be bashful in giving your views. I will not shrink from honest opinions, no matter how ‘out there’ they seem; however, I will hope for respectful and intellectual discourse as opposed to emotional rants.
I emphasize that The Bruce Philosophical Project will not be published in any traditional media – it will go only to those who subscribe.
I know that many decry philosophy as something for older men with beards and those patches on their elbows using long words and interminable paragraphs to patter on about incomprehensible mental gibberish, which you probably remember non-fondly from a college philosophy course.
But if you think that is the purpose of philosophy you are flat out wrong!
Nay, Philosophy is the heart and soul of humanity. It can lead us forward – with concepts like Immanuel Kant’s moral imperative. And it can lead us backward as well — with sick and evil theories like using the faux science of eugenics as an excuse to denigrate races that some claimed to be inferior.
Philosophy is powerful stuff, and there is nothing more important that I – or anyone — can give to the world than a view of the world and humanity that is as unbiased as possible, and uplifting as well.
The mission statement and purpose is:
Communicate Truth Understandably: Inspire Positive Change
In terms of admonitions to myself in this Project:
- I will do my best to seek knowledge and truth in an unbiased manner
- I will be delighted to be proven wrong – and open-minded to it
- I will communicate thoughts in an understandable way, since a brilliant thought that no one can understand is worth very little
- I will have a (slight) bias (sorry no one is perfect) towards being uplifting and positive to inspire good things in society
- If anything treads on what is thought of as politics, as much as possible I will avoid my personal political views, but instead give thoughts on ways people could discuss difficult topics in a manner that is likely to lead to a positive outcome
So there you have it. The Bruce Philosophical Project.
Best regards to everyone.
Bruce
Bruce Stachenfeld 