How Did ‘Writing’ Change the Way We Think and Remember Things?

Before writing, people remembered stories like granny telling tales. But once we could write them down, our brains changed, now we didn’t have to remember everything by heart.

Imagine your grandma telling you a story every night for years. You know the whole thing by memory. Now picture her writing it on paper and leaving it on your bed. Suddenly, you don’t need to remember all of it, just read it when you want!

That’s how writing changed our memory and even how we think.

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Examples

Imagine your grandma telling you a story every night, now she writes it on paper so you can read it when you want.
A hunter used to remember where all his traps were, now he just writes them down on bark.
A teacher used to repeat the same lessons over and over, now they write them on stones for students to learn from.

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Categories: History · writing,history of language,cognitive change