This has moved on quite a bit from the proposition that emoticons and tags are necessary.
Just because written language can be argued over, that does not make spoken and written communication equivalent in that regard.
Writing does far more than just time-shifting. Handling complexity is one important benefit. Disseminating information accurately is another.
Debating is not prominent partly because it is not efficient (even in law, the amount of verbal debate is dwarfed by the amount of written communication, which is necessary in its own right as well as necessary to support what verbal debate does happen.)
The modern world is inconceivable without near-universal literacy, and it seems very odd to have to defend that point on HN.
Emoticons were never a position. They served as support of a claim.
More importantly the claim wasn’t that Socrates was absolutely right, it was that he had a legit point when he argued that there are inferior aspects. I however acknowledge these drawbacks are dwarfed by the benefits conferred by writing. So yes writing is great, no doubt, but it does lose something while gaining us a lot more in return.
Never the less, I admire his steadfast refusal to write even while acknowledging we are poorer for not having his thoughts first hand. Yet, he nor anyone else owed or owes it to us.
Just because written language can be argued over, that does not make spoken and written communication equivalent in that regard.
Writing does far more than just time-shifting. Handling complexity is one important benefit. Disseminating information accurately is another.
Debating is not prominent partly because it is not efficient (even in law, the amount of verbal debate is dwarfed by the amount of written communication, which is necessary in its own right as well as necessary to support what verbal debate does happen.)
The modern world is inconceivable without near-universal literacy, and it seems very odd to have to defend that point on HN.