Thanks to UNESCO's (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) efforts, "alphabetism" is not understood only as reading and writing in the mother language. They added the set of basic skills mathematical activities and began a worldwide discussion of what literacy means in the present. People in Europe started to think about illiterates as ignorants who do not want to use a chance for improve their knowledge although they live in civilized countries. So are we illiterates in the twenty-first century if we do not use opportunities giving from governments to be educated?
When UNESCO proudly presented the new definition of educated man, the world was about to enter the last, most intense phase of the scientific and technological revolution.
In 2002 only 19% of the population of the globe had cell phones (1 174 million). Only 631 million (10% of the population) used the Internet.
At the end of 2011, cell phones already used 6 billion inhabitants of the land. Internet access was more than 2.3 billion. By the end of 2011, Facebook was the third largest "country" in the world, just behind China and India.
Paradoxically, the ease of access to the network and unlimited knowledge has become one of the alphabetism causes of specific backlash in the field of literacy. Modern illiterates, often with a university diploma, fail to meet the competency requirements of the twenty-first century. In the new post-industrial reality, it is not enough to know the alphabet, to read and write. That's not enough.
Reading texts and searching the data in the network is extremely different from "traditional" work with a book. Network resources are linked by millions of links and links. Researching and acquiring information has become simple, quick and accessible as never before in history. And here comes the problem.
In the days of knowledge acquired from books, we had to deal with the so-called "canon of knowledge". It was an iron set of information that everyone who aspired to be educated should possess. Unfortunately, it's a past. Mankind has so far generated unthinkable amounts of knowledge and data. There is no man who understands and assimilates this resource. Modern writing does not need to know the canon. It needs to know - how and where to get it, and above all how to verify the truth and analyze the available data.
The lack of identities of written and critical texts is one of the underlying determinants of modern illiteracy. The person affected by the so- illiteracy functionality can read and write. The icon devoid of critical and analytical skills is transferred to a limited range of own, rigid beliefs and points of view. It remains incapable of changing the perception and understanding of the surrounding world.
Functional illiterates are also people who can not settle taxes, properly fill out official forms and forms. Contemporary illiterate has trouble reading timetables and flights. Does not understand weather maps and operating instructions. He can not read and prepare charts, diagrams, and infographics. He does not understand what is privacy and good image on the web.
Of all the research and discussion surrounding modern illiteracy, a simple conclusion emerges. In the twenty-first century, illiteracy simply means the inability to function effectively in a world without borders, rigid knowledge and behavior patterns.
I think we are illiterate. I will refine and add - we are illiterate whenever we read less than seven books a year. We do not know any foreign language. We can not write precise, concise emails, reports. Instead of substantive discussion, we preach arguments full of aggression and personal trips. We do not know how to comment literally and lyrically. We do not understand written texts. Instead of honestly analyzing and drawing conclusions, we conduct pseudo-interpretations, lined immortal "because I think so."
