Question

Passage A

The transition from oral culture to written literacy was the single most important catalyst for human intellectual development. By externalizing thought, writing freed the human mind from the laborious task of sheer memorization. Instead of dedicating cognitive resources to retaining vast epics or historical genealogies, individuals could engage in critical analysis and abstract speculation. Writing allowed ideas to be frozen in time, scrutinized, and systematically built upon across generations. Without this external storage system, the cumulative growth of scientific knowledge and complex philosophical systems would have been structurally impossible, as oral memory is inherently limited in its capacity and stability.

Passage B

While writing is often celebrated as an unalloyed cognitive advancement, it fundamentally altered—and in some ways degraded—human mental faculties. In oral traditions, knowledge was not merely stored; it was lived, requiring deep internalization and active, dynamic recollection. The reliance on written texts replaced this active mental synthesis with a passive dependence on external records. As a result, the capacity for robust natural memory withered. Furthermore, reading written signs creates an illusion of wisdom; it allows individuals to receive information without undergoing the rigorous intellectual discipline required to truly understand and integrate it. Thus, writing did not expand the mind so much as it provided a crutch that weakened our innate intellectual capacities.

Based on the passages, on which of the following issues do the authors of Passage A and Passage B disagree most directly?