"That everyone may learn to read, in the long run corrupts not only writing, but also thinking. Once, the spirit was God, then it became man, now even he becomes rabble."
--Friedrich Nietzsche (from Walter Kaufmann's translation of Also Sprach Zarathustra)
Nietzsche was a very lonely man who suffered from many physical infirmities, probably the cause of his bitterness and his general rage against society. Mostly I think he's a bit flaky and over-the-top in his analyses, but I think we may have found some hard evidence that he was right about this. CognacXO knows just enough to be dangerous. I often bitch and complain that our educational systems are failing us, that every child deserves an excellent, free public education, and that no price is too great for this endeavor. But occassionally I'm reminded that the average literate person in 1704 wrote wonderfully insightful messages, but the average literate person in 2004 is much more likely to be a troll. Maybe I'll have to rethink my position. Elitism anyone?
No, not elitism. I agree with you. I don't know why this is; a pragmatic reason might be that people didn't have as much to do back then. All people do now is race and the technology keeps us racing. I mean you can't even compare this world to 1704. And speaking of education, it's now about getting a grade; it's not about learning and for the most part what everyone, including parents, care about is the bottom line: the grade. Get through. And teachers, profs, and admins want attractive numbers and don't want to hold someone back so they want everyone to get through, so the students get railroaded through if need be. That's the goal: get 'em through. Students are customers.
But coming back to why the average literate person is more likely to produce moronic nonsense than insightful thoughtfulness is a subject one could explore almost endlessly. Not only do people have more to do and keep them going now, they don't have the patience and attention span that they used to. In 1704, for example, travelling was on horseback, lasted the day, and maybe went a few miles. You got to see flowers and hear birds, which gave time to think and ponder. Now, travelling is a starting point and a destination. 750 miles a day. Pittsburgh to Phoenix in 3 long days; don't see anything, don't look at anything, just battle traffic and go like hell. Talk on the phone, play with the CD changer, etc. Or better yet, fly. You're there even faster, you see nothing, think about little except what you're going to do when you get to your destination, talk on the phone, or get some work done on the laptop. I could go on - like I said, this is a PhD dissertation topic, but there's more to keep us busy. People are extended much more, I think. Therefore, no one has the time, energy, or inclination to sit and write a poem or read a Dickensian style novel.
