1/27/2005
   slide 12
But… History of Suspicion of New Communication Technologies J
•Plato: “’This invention will produce forgetfulness in the souls of those who have learned it… They will not need to exercise their memories, being to reply on what is written,’ and since written words come without ‘benefit of a teacher’s instruction’ they will produce only ‘a semblance’ of ‘;wisdom,’ not ‘truth,’ not ‘real judgment.’”
[Plato’s Socrates tells the story of the God Thoth offering writing to the Egyptian King Thamus. The Rise of the Image/The Fall of the Word p 23]
The ubiquitous role of images is new and is still threatening to many.

Historically important to know that new information technologies are virtually all denigrated at the outset. Rise of image pp31,32:
Writing also viewed with suspicion when first invented and literacy becoming widespread.