Yeah, you could look at it both ways. To some, the advancement in technology meant they would work less in trying to listen and carefully remember all they've perceived during that time.

Memorizing is not just what schools teach us blindly to repeat afterward, but for instance, when arguing with other people you should first be able to tell back to others what their arguments are precisely (vs your own interpretation of it). That means you really listened and took the time to try to understand others instead of just waiting for them to finish to make your amazing comeback.

I can't remember which school of thought had this practice when debating different ideas, but they put a lot of effort into memorizing things in a much more comprehensive way.

I agree with writing not being static, I was just mentioning how it could be perceived by some people as a regression rather than an advancement. But I love writing and the wonderful things that this simple technology allowed us to do as a society.