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Philosophy Basics

A free guide to philosophy since 2008, with a magazine about ideas at work.

Philosophy Basics

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People who still write things down on paper instead of their phone aren’t being old-fashioned, they’re often protecting their attention, their memory and the one part of the day no notification can interrupt

Plato worried that writing would weaken memory. Today paper is the old-fashioned option. Here is what philosophers and researchers suggest a paper notebook can offer, and where its advantages are more limited than they sound.

By Philosophy Basics Editorial Team · November 10, 2026

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