Commentary
America, like many parts of the world, is amid a literary crisis—one that threatens the future of civilization as we know it.
For instance, it was reported earlier this year that college professors are having to come to grips with the reality that entering students can’t even do the most basic reading needed to complete—or even start—the assignments they receive.
As one professor at Pepperdine University put it, “It’s not even an inability to critically think. It’s an inability to read sentences.”
Americans have seemingly forgotten to read, as nearly half of all Americans did not read a single book last year. And Americans ages 18 to 29—the college-age years when one should be consuming and acquiring knowledge—read, on average, just 5.8 books.
This inability to read—and the ability to comprehend and process what one reads—is the subject of a new book by James Marriott, “The New Dark Ages.” The ramifications for our society are alarming, to say the least.
Reading is the gateway to opening the mind to knowledge. It is no coincidence that many of the great movements that shaped the world we live in occurred after Gutenberg invented the printing press, which sparked the mass production of printed books for the first time.
It was reading that helped spark the American Revolution, as it allowed great thinkers to put pen to paper and have their words distributed and read widely.
Reading is to the brain what physical exercise is to the body. If you forsake it, you will eventually pay the consequences. Just as a body gets weaker when it remains inactive, the brain does as well. Instead of thinking through serious issues, it accepts weak arguments at face value, making it prey to falling to the prevailing winds of the time.
It is no coincidence that our prevailing vitriolic public discourse has coincided with this decline, as decreased reading also leads to a corresponding decline in political, historical, and cultural literacy.
As Marriott points out, as print dies, we risk returning to the chaos, tribalism, and rage of the world—historically known as the “dark ages” before widespread literacy. People become easy targets for demagogues, who whip up outrage by playing to our worst instincts, pitting us against one another for self-interest rather than bringing us together for the common good.
So how did this literacy freefall happen, and what can we do to reverse it?
Smartphones are definitely a factor. In many ways, they have become the antithesis of the Gutenberg printing press. Numerous studies have shown the negative effects on the cognitive abilities of all members of American society, but particularly adolescents and young adults, since their introduction two decades ago.
This is not surprising. As a young child, I, along with many of my contemporaries, was a voracious reader and engaged in numerous activities and social connections that sharpened, rather than dulled, our thinking skills.
We exercised our brains rather than put them on hold while scrolling images and seeking “likes” on electronics.
But I would also suggest that we have lost the purpose of education and, as a nation, have focused on everything in the classroom except teaching students how to read and learn.
The purpose of education is to teach young minds to think, read, write, reason, imagine, and argue with excellence. It is about empowering young people to reach their fullest potential, not just getting them through a school day to get a piece of paper.
Instead, we have made conscious choices to teach to multiple-choice tests rather than using critical thinking skills to write compelling essays. We have chosen to entertain rather than educate. And we have chosen to engage in advancing political agendas in the classroom rather than teach the basic skills needed to thrive as adults.
If we want to avoid the “new dark ages,” we need to reexamine, reevaluate, and reverse what has caused the alarming decline in literacy. Let’s encourage our young people—and ourselves—to pick up a book or read one online so we can once again engage in civil, thoughtful discourse rather than cultural screaming matches. That is how we can restore order and avoid the chaos coming our way if we continue down our current illiterate path.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
