I have considerable sympathy for this idea. Even so, literacy as defined as the ability to look at strings of static words on a page or screen and effortlessly and spontaneously have images and complex ideas form in one's consciousness as a result of that activity is a skill that is imparted less and less by public education but is still consistently imparted to students in private academies and by home schooling. It's not the only means of conveying or receiving information, and those, like Harold Bloom, author of "Closing of the American Mind," who define cultural literacy as familiarity with the cannon of Western Civilization are oblivious to important new ways of thinking and communicating.
Still, the ability to express oneself in writing and to be able to read and comprehend what others have written is a valuable skill that improves ones ability to navigate consciously in a memetic landscape. It is also a skill that the institutions of public education in the US are increasingly unable to impart to students.
-KMO
Sodom wrote:
> Literacy isn't falling - its adapting
>
> Bill Roh
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-virus@lucifer.com
> > [mailto:owner-virus@lucifer.com]On Behalf
> > Of KMO
> > Sent: Friday, April 09, 1999 2:05 PM
> > To: virus@lucifer.com
> > Subject: virus: Too Much TV
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Dr Sebby wrote:
> >
> > > Downfall?..sometimes i wonder where it is 'we're' falling from.
> >
> > As a society, literacy.
> >
> > -KMO
> >