The Worst Field Trip Ever, more commonly called the Tumu Crisis. Imagine being kidnapped by Mongols, but your empire isn’t all that fussed about paying the ransom so eventually you get sent home, where you find out the subcelestial realm preferred it when you weren’t there.

This is not to say that moral panics over technological advances are pointless. Writing has been an overall good for humanity (maybe), but I'm sure there's something to be said for not wholly depending on it, as with any other tool. And plenty of other technology has been worse for us than writing.

"...for by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much while for the most part they know nothing. And as men filled not with wisdom but with the conceit of wisdom they will be a burden to their fellows." 2/2

See also Google and genAI as "research" tools.

Plato (in Phaedrus, Robin Waterfield's translation) on writing itself as an act of cognitive offloading:

"What you have discovered is a recipe not for memory, but for reminder. And it is no true wisdom that you offer your disciples, but only the semblance of wisdom..." 1/2

"They're trying to change our habits, because all of the projections rely on people becoming truly dependent on the technology. Whether or not it's actually a good thing for society isn't considered to be a factor."

"I've lived and worked in Dubai" in the profile. Surprise, surprise

I've spent the past few days on Hongkonger Threads, reading the live updates & online discussion of LOCALS. People on the ground providing support, assistance, and recording the events that unfold.

NO ONE is looking at the government or elected officials for leadership. Hongkongers don't need them.

Some classical Chinese ghost stories have been well-loved by English readers, despite the orientalist perspectives that accompanied their 19th century translations, so I was glad to be asked to introduce this classic collection, and in a way, culturally reclaim these works of Chinese literature. 4/