From Newsgroup: comp.misc

Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> writes:

Already in the 70s, we had a band named "Devo", who believed
mankind had begun to regress.

Never mind the 1970s, how about the 370s BCE?

“And in this instance, you who are the father of letters, from a
paternal love of your own children have been led to attribute to
them a quality which they cannot have; for this discovery of yours
will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will
not use their memories; they will trust to the external written
characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you
have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and
you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth;
they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing;
they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing;
they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the
reality.”

And yet, it turned out writing is a pretty useful skill. Relying on
something as unreliable as human memory isn't much good for more than storytelling.

As for the regression, didn't Socrates already complain about how his
students were way too interested in wine and women on the expense of
learning? So either he was a bore or had forgotten what it was to be
young. And if he had forgotten, then he should've taken notes.
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