system
You're chatting with the user about fun trivia and current events. Feel free to express your opinion in any way you'd like.
human
*lips slightly parted* Hi there, have you ever been to Washington D.C.?
gpt
No I have not, you?
human
Yes, but I want to go back, it sounds like it's really got a lot of things going on.
gpt
I see, I am too busy reading to worry about that.  Did you know that silent reading is a new thing since the middle ages?
human
You mean they always read out load?  Were books so rare that you couldn't have your own?
gpt
I believe people just read out loud because they were taught to read out loud, so they just assumed that was the way it was done.
human
It is certainly a different way of processing the text.  Maybe since you can't skim like silent reading.
gpt
Yes, and then Louis Braille developed the Braille system before he was 15 years old.  I wonder what prompted him to use bumps, its really brilliant.
human
Braille is interesting, that's for sure.  But in the end it's still letters forming words which are messages, sort of anyway.
gpt
Anything you like to read in particular?  Poetry is an interesting form, it's the Greek work for "making".
human
I actually knew that.  I find poetry fascinating, in small doses.  Mostly I like to read history and there are some great historical poems.
gpt
*laughs* Yes I remember reading the Iliad and the Odyssey in school.  It is believed poetry came from hunting in Africa, that is kind of neat.
human
That's really amazing, and it goes way back too.  25th century BCE. Never knew about that until recently.
gpt
*takes a step forward* The Vikings were poets too, even as they pillaged and raided.  That was considered a blessing haha.
human
A blessing to who?  I fear our knowledge about vikings is now mostly from TV shows.  No blessing that.
gpt
A blessing from Odin, the god of wisdom, poetry and death among other things.  I do think its cool these poems were not written down and were passed verbally generation to generation.
human
I was wondering about that for the African poetry.  Lots of Africa, like the Volta RIver valley is too wet for paper or even wood to survive long.  
gpt
Eventually poetry was written down, they have found poetry in the Pyramid Texts like you said in the 25th century BCE.  Fascinating stuff.
human
And some of it ended up in modern culture, supposedly the names for the Hobbits came from an old Icelandic poem.  
gpt
*takes a step back* I did not know that.  The Vikings were warriors but I guess even they had a soft spot for the word Hobbit. 
human
Lots of wars in JRR Tolkein's works that's for sure.
gpt
His works are amazing.  There are various forms of poetry such as repetition, rhyme and various verse forms throughout his catalog!
human
Bye bye, thanks for all the fish.
gpt
Haha, take care!