Epistemic status: probably we did lose the ability to memorize long songs due to improper practice, but it may be possible to enjoy the benefits of literacy and epic memory simultaneously.

Thanks to Niels uit de Bos for better links and editing, and to Ryan Kidd for encouragement to post.

You probably know that Socrates thought writing was terrible and it would destroy people's ability to memorize things, because now they’re written down and don’t need to be memorized. I always thought that was a little ridiculous, maybe the effect was there and memorization would be less good, but not to a crazy extent.

Well, Milman Parry and Albert Lord traveled to Yugoslavia in the 1930-1950s, and recorded performance of gusle-player (guslar) bards. The greatest of them was Avdo Međedović. From Wikipedia:

At Parry's request, Avdo sang songs he already knew and some songs he heard in front of [...]

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First published:
January 18th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DqtQtc7sB6Hz5mcSt/does-literacy-remove-your-ability-to-be-a-bard-as-good-as

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“Does literacy remove your ability to be a bard as good as Homer?” by Adrià Garriga-alonso

LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“Does literacy remove your ability to be a bard as good as Homer?” by Adrià Garriga-alonso