The printing press changed the world, but that must be closely followed by increased literacy. Because prior to pretty much everyone being able to read, the only ones who could were the clergy, the scholars, and a few of the wealthy. That meant that while widespread distribution and dissemination of information was possible, it still had to pass through the filter of an "elite" first. Everyone else just had to trust the information they were fed.
I feel like we are heading back to those times.
While if we look at literacy rates over the last hundred or so years there has been massive improvements globally, over the last ten years, some of the most advanced countries have seen regression. There are a number of reasons for this but the main two are; kids spending time on digital media, and parents spending time on digital media. Parents are reading less to their children, and less for themselves too. And Children are getting their entertainment from screens also, with many not starting to read in any capacity until they get to school. It seems that for many parents, teaching how to swipe a screen is more important than teaching the alphabet.
So what this means is that we are heading back to becoming reliant on others for our information, and are less capable of critical thinking through what we are fed. And in a world where misinformation and disinformation are running rife, being able to critically think is vital to not end up being a gullible pawn in the agenda of someone else's game.
Reading is critical for this. Not only because it allows for wider sources, but perhaps more importantly, it develops a cluster of mental traits that build the imagination. The imagination is vital for critical thinking, because it develops for reading between the lines, finding unspoken connections, and building theoretical models and mental simulations to create understanding. Imagination is not just about creativity in the sense of artistic accomplishment, it is core to our ability to problem solve.
The mind's eye world we create for a fantasy novel to imagine a dragon, uses the same tools to design an engineering solution, or being able to tell the difference between implied and explicit context. For instance, a lot of autistic people are unable to understand metaphors and analogies well, and take what is said literally. They expect people to say what they mean, but if we include tone, body language, and unconscious messaging, people are saying what they mean - even when they are intentionally lying. Taking everything literally in any complex social environment, is rarely going to lead to understanding the actual situation.
But, while there is a spectrum of levels spread across every skillset, a lot of the skills that many are starting to miss, are learnable skills, that have just gone unpractised. Knowing about a skill, doesn't mean possessing a skill. Nor does believing that one already has the skill innately, because belief doesn't equal skill possession. I can believe I can fly - gravity does not.
Reading is not only a skill for gathering information, it is a skill that allows us to get exposure and practice to an infinite number of other skills, whilst also building part of the foundation required to onboard those skills. Yes, there are a lot of people who couldn't read and were successful, and many who could and weren't - but we have to look at the skills on average, for the average person, as well as what "success" might look like to an individual.
Is a social media influencer successful if they make a hundred thousand a month, but suicide 12 months later?
Reading for many is attached to the pleasure of collecting information, even if they aren't going to use it, or even if the information itself is valueless by itself, like a fiction novel. But, reading forces the brain to generate entirely new, personalised worlds where an individual can not only understand what they are reading, but can use that world to build upon and spark further development. It might be the inspiration to change some behaviours, or it might be the spark that gives a world changing idea, but whatever it is, that internal world of ours, plays a vital role.
We are prediction machines that think predominantly in pictures. We build models continuously that represent our understanding of our experience, as well as our understanding of what we have never experienced too. But like our body, our mental world requires training and development to be effective, which means ongoing repetitive training.
Reading is a mental training ground.
I read to my daughter nearly every night I put her to bed, and now she is reading the first couple paragraphs to me before I take over. She is doing this in English with me, but her Finnish reading skills are far better, partially because Finnish is a phonetic language so reading is much easier.
I can read Finnish well - and not understand anything.
But, my daughter also likes to listen to audiobooks, which is better than a TV, but not as good as reading in my opinion. The less we have to "do" in order to get the information, the less value the information has for us in terms of skill building. Building skills requires work and no matter what the skill, to be good at it requires consistent effort against increasing challenge.
The problem with most of the media people consume now is, that there is no challenge to get it, and once able to follow, very little thought need be put in to understand, because everything is provided. There is no hurdle to get over, no effort, and instead - it is just a passive process of collection.
It takes no skill to consume today.
There is no challenge and it has gotten to the point where people can't even be fed complex storylines, because they just can't follow along, and they don't have the patience to even try.
If a movie is too hard to understand, it is a bad movie.
But is that the case? Is quantum physics bad physics? Are the circuits in your screen bad also? Of course not, and some people are smart enough and interested enough to understand how these things work. But when the average person can't even be bothered to learn the skills necessary to understand relatively basic concepts, what does that mean for humanity?
Reliance.
As said, I believe we are becoming increasingly reliant because we keep giving up fundamental skills to various tools and service providers. Rather than improving ourselves by increasing our abilities, we are just letting other people do everything for us, and we are mostly getting dumber for it.
Reading is just one of the many skills we are foregoing in the name of convenience, but there are many, many more. Maths is failing too, as are our bodies, and our emotional control is rapidly returning to the reactive nature of animal instinct. We are reducing ourselves to the role of user, with no ability to be a provider of any kind.
We are underprovisioned.
Lacking the personal resources to absorb our experience, understand and evaluate it, and then translate what we think into action and effective communication to make a difference, means we are ineffective, and low-value. Soon, most of us will have nothing to trade except our attention as a user.
Many of us might already be at that point.
Taraz
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