Michelle

I can’t help but wonder if H.G. Wells has it right in his classic “The Time Machine” where the beautiful Eloi are well cared for, and dumb as posts… and are food for the scary, but educated, Morlocks below.

I have heard from many sources that the highest historical penetration of literacy world wide, was about 1905, give or take. Well before radio, and much before television and so on.

There’s no doubt that instantaneous communication via current wired and wireless telcom has advantages, but as anything we humans are capable of, all this advantage has been weighed down by a fair chunk of mean, useless effluent. Everyone can sell anything, and everyone can hurl their opinion. This can be good for society, when (like any good debating class) points are clearly defined and defended, but rarely is this the case and online experiences often seem yet another mirror of the sordid plight humanity seems to create for itself in every age.

We are soft, very soft. As a society, we generally seem more inclined to kick back with a cold one and a bag of processed salt, sugar and fat; tune in and tune out. Pleasure, no matter how small and fleeting, with the least amount of effort.

The idea of delving into books, especially non fiction, for so many must seem like work. I just completed “Freakomics” and “Super Freakonomics”, and before these, “Atom: A Single Oxygen Atom’s Journey” and “A Brief History of Nearly Everything”. Next up is “Into the Wild”. After that, I anticipate a hearty return to non fiction, perhaps re-reading Heinlein’s “Job: A Comedy of Justice.” It was Heinlein who said, “A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.” Literacy is the foundation of confidence which is why it’s astounding that more people do not read voraciously.

Respectfully submitted.