Preface to Plato
by Eric Havelock · first published 2006
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…the Yates is great. Another indispensable book for historical context about the Classical transition from oral to literate culture (and its implications for memory, education, and Greek thought) is: - Preface to Plato, by Eric Havelock
on “The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity” ↗I recommend Havelock's Preface to Plato and Walter Ong's Orality and Literacy
on “Writing is thinking” ↗…concern. FWIW, The Republic has a lot of things to say about other subjects besides politics. Things like art, and education, ancient Greek society. I read a really interesting book a few years ago, Preface to Plato, that argued Plato was mostly criticizing the traditional, oral culture of Greece, with its emphasis on rote, formulaic learning. (That's a crude summary of the argument, but anyway...)