If you are like me, then perhaps you don't have a huge stockpile of remembered quotes from famous philosophers. If you had a liberal arts education, then maybe you have remembered a few quotes, and they may pop into your consciousness from time to time in reaction to different situations. One of my favorite philosopher quotes is from Socrates, and you can't get any simpler than this. "Know thyself." I love that quote, and I always think about it takes a lifetime to know yourself, so how could we possibly ever imagine that we could come to know someone else? Food for thought.
I was happy to learn more about Socrates and to apply his ancient perspective about writing to our present state of digital writing. Some historians have interpreted Socrates reaction to literature in this way, "There is no need to write, it will corrupt the human mind and destroy the memory of mankind." I have to admit, he might have had a prophetic point there. Presently, there is so much uncertainty about so much digitally written information; the manner in which it is disseminated so rapidly, and the ever changing means to participate and consume in our digital writing world. These are bound to be a confusing and scary times in our human literate history.
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