Caleb Crain makes some very shocking points in his article "Twilight of the Books." Essentially, with the rise of television, people in developed countries are reading less and less. While more information has been made available online since the invention of the computer, there is something more concrete and profound about reading a classic piece of literature or thumbing through a textbook. In my opinion, the decline of literacy is a shameful and discouraging thing to witness. What will happen to the libraries and private collections of the world's richest novels when no one will leave the fly-zapper glow of their television sets?
"...Reading scores fell an average of six points between 1992 and 2005, and the share of proficient twelfth-grade readers dropped from forty per cent to thirty-five per cent." Is it just me, or is that scary? Kids getting ready to start college are already LESS intelligent than those that were doing the same just nine years ago. Isn't it common understanding that societies and civilizations should PROGRESS as time passes, not decline?
People these days can't take the time to pick up a newspaper or open a book, but they can parade around shopping malls to pick up the latest blend of colors on the hippest shirts sold at the coolest stores. What is wrong with our society? Exactly that.
By saying "exactly that" are you referring to consumerism? If you are then I agree completely. It is like by the media you are brainwashed to want and loose sight of what you need. Children feel like they "need" a new video game, but really they do not need it. The world interchanges the two terms so loosely that the difference is not easily seen.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to see that there is less and less reading going on. You're right, people will spend a large part of their day at the shopping mall but hardly any reading.
ReplyDeleteYour blog makes me think of Facebook, which replaced reading for me and even watching television. I never realized this until I decided to delete my facebook and stopped watching so much mind numbing TV. I hate to admit it but I was watching Snooki act ridiculous on TV rather then reading for classes or even pleasure. I have already been through two novels that were sitting on my shelve waiting to be read along with all of my course work reading. I wish people would realize that someday they are probably going to regret all of the idiotic TV shows they watched instead of keeping up on course work reading at the very least.
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