Plato (WM)

The world had already moved steadily into the manuscript age by the time Plato wrote this dialog. We need to use our intellectual imaginations to re-construct a world in which face-to-face oral communication was the way to get ahead in life.

In the 80s, it was still common practice for most people to hand-write rough drafts, then type them up at a final stage. At my university, people put up flyers advertising typing services; the department secretary would offer to type up one graduate student's dissertation each year. 

Typing was considered a skill that was separate from composition. You've certainly seen old movies in which the secretary walked into the office, steno pad in hand, while the boss dictated a letter.  (In the 80s, I remember a teacher saying that women with good typing skills should not mention that fact in their resumes, because they'd be snapped up in a service job and wouldn't get the kind of experience that leads to a promotion... but consider the story of Tiro, which we'll look at in Di Renzo's article, "His Master's Voice" soon.)

So, my story suggests that skill with a keyboard could hurt your career, since you'd be seen as tied to a keyboard, rather than seen as a source of interpersonal interactions that are important to a rise through management.  In a similar way, Plato tells a story that reminds us that conveniences that keep us from having to do drudgery also rob us of the opportunity to master a skill. (I for one have no desire to learn how to skin an animal and prepare its flesh for cooking -- I'm perfectly happy to depend on the technological conveniences that separate me from that process. Still, I admire the independence of those  people who do not need to depend on Wal-Mart to feed their families. Do I admire that independence enough to emulate it?  Sadly, no. But I don't really understand my place in the economic world unless I can identify and understand different points of view. What is your place in the world of ideas?)