Thinking despite the song of the cicadas
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31207/colloquia.v12i1.191Keywords:
Thinking, artificial intelligence, technology, education, political philosophyAbstract
Thinking, in the age of machines, has become an act of resistance. This article examines the crisis of philosophical thought within today’s technocratic context and its impact on education, ethics, and political life. Drawing on Plato’s Phaedrus—particularly the myth of the singing cicadas and Socrates’ critique of writing—together with Miguel Pastorino’s Pensar en la era de las máquinas (2025) and Fabio Morandín’s analysis of John Searle’s “Chinese Room,” the paper argues for the need to recover thinking as an emancipatory praxis in the face of the automation of consciousness. In a time dominated by artificial intelligence and the empire of data, philosophy emerges as a form of cognitive insurrection: a way of safeguarding human dignity through judgment, slowness, and depth. Far from being an academic luxury, thinking becomes the ethical and political core of freedom. The text maintains that philosophical education is now a public responsibility aimed at restoring discernment, dialogue, and the search for meaning—foundations of any living democracy.
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