by sdwr 5 hours ago
Does reading books have intrinsic value, or is it just a specific (archaic?) way of transmitting information? Socrates would be a podcaster today
I think specific, but not archaic. The written word can be beautiful like any other form of art - it's not only about transmitting information but transmitting emotion. Sorta like a photograph, painting, or song.
writing well is really hard. other mediums are other mediums.
sure the new mediums have reach going for them, but im not sure socrates would’ve enjoyed or optimized for popularity.
> writing well is really hard
I think because good writing is easier to read and understand than bad writing, there's almost an inverse relationship between how easy writing seems and how easy it is to read. So you read something and think "well, this is obvious" but the magic trick is how much work went in to making it so.
That's true for a lot of things. Skilled people make difficult things look easy.
Ever heard about imagination?