Reading is Fundamental

[The Buddy Love Show]

The lack of ability to critically read is on the rise in this country. It seems that most people hae no clue as to what the printed word they are perusing actually means. Armed with low comprehension and little knowledge they venture forth in what they consider to be a heightened state of awareness of the events and ideas with which they are confronted every day, only to realize that they have been underfed some basic info.

Is this the reason for the rise of tabloid journalism? Do people really need papers like the Globe or the NY Post or The Star or mags such as people or US? Are folks impatient at the prospect of having to sit through 5 or more story paragraphs? Are our memories so short that we can't remember all of the material between paragraphs 1 and 50. yet alone comprehend and reformat it for discussion?

"I cringe for the future" (F Buellers Day Off)

[jpsf]

yep. thank tv. it has erased memory and history. although, tabloid like stuff has been around forever...everybody loves gossip.

[The Buddy Love Show]

tv and radio...shit and more shit (for the most part)...i once got a leaflet from the black israelites or the ansaru allah or the hare krishnas or some other lunatic fringe element which decried "the box" as the main contributor to ignorance in our society...lunatic fringe indeed!

[mdpm99]

Reading whilst sunbathing makes you well-red.

smile.gif

d

(tele.)

[The Buddy Love Show]

lol

better read than dead

it is sad that we as a culture seem to be becoming less literate....and why no Barnes and Nobles in da ghetto?...rats!

[darrow]

Do you have any articles that discuss the decline in critical reading skills? I'd be interested in reading them.

[Chris Conrad]

this is indeed a serious issue...i noticed this among many of my coworkers, many of which have COLLEGE DEGREES (which i do not). i noticed that many people do not comprehend what they read, and many, including those that have college degrees, esesentially cannot read and take forever to read something, never mind understand what they read. people i work with are often amazed at the amount of stuff i read per day or how quickly i read material and comrehend it when they have to reread it several times. i also recently heard a troubling statistic that stated that most people who come out of college are functionally illiterate.

[The Buddy Love Show]

Originally posted by darrow:
Do you have any articles that discuss the decline in critical reading skills? I'd be interested in reading them. http://indian-river.fl.us/living/services/als/facts.html

[The Buddy Love Show]

Originally posted by St Magus the Reviled:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by darrow:
Do you have any articles that discuss the decline in critical reading skills? I'd be interested in reading them. http://indian-river.fl.us/living/services/als/facts.html </font>[/QUOTE]although not addressing higher order "critical" reading skils ( such as drawing inferences) this site does raise many serious concerns

[ August 06, 2003, 10:16 AM: Message edited by: St Magus the Reviled ]

[alex zen]

i try to read a book a week. sometimes respectable literature and sometimes low brow fanatasy (which is my fav. )

[Bill Blake]

i read the hapercollins college outline of the constitution of the united states on the way to work today.

why?

cause im just that type of guy.

[Chris Conrad]

Originally posted by Jamie Lennox:
i read the hapercollins college outline of the constitution of the united states on the way to work today.

why?

cause im just that type of guy. this is another serious one....funny you bring this up...most comon people, educated and uneducated, have no clue as to the basics of their constitution...this goes for all the radio and tv talk show hosts who have political shows also...people agree with all types of things regarding the goverment, but at the same time have no clue what is in the constitution they claim to be defending.

[Bill Blake]

Yea one of the things I was contemplating after reading today was the years and years and years of complaints I have heard from people about the electoral college and how they are so ‘shocked and outraged’ that they themselves with their vote don’t elect the president….

When in reality the Electoral College is an ingenious process that allowed a more acceptable balance of power between small states are large ones.

Not to mention when the idea is put into the context of the alternatives, that congress would elect the executive which the framers feared would make the executive too subservient to congress and most importantly to allow the majority vote of the people was finally considered a very bad idea because it could give the states with the largest populations a bias influence on the executive.

The Electoral College a brilliant display of how to balance power.

[Pete Nice]

it's a matter of convenience and distraction.... how can you get people to read when they can just look at pictures and some clever headlines? how do you get distracted children(who now look like circuit boards) to pay attention? a college education is almost a joke now. people say they don't have time, but they got time to talk about nothing on those cell phones. it gets easier to pacifiy the masses when you give them everything they want(i.e. the illusion of convenience and ease).

"shut up, everything has been provided for you...."

[The Buddy Love Show]

Originally posted by square root:
it's a matter of convenience and distraction.... how can you get people to read when they can just look at pictures and some clever headlines? how do you get distracted children(who now look like circuit boards) to pay attention? a college education is almost a joke now. people say they don't have time, but they got time to talk about nothing on those cell phones. it gets easier to pacifiy the masses when you give them everything they want(i.e. the illusion of convenience and ease).

"shut up, everything has been provided for you...." heavvvvy

[jpsf]

i heard the difference between tv and reading as the difference between a hot medium and a cold medium. a book is a cold medium, because your brain has to add energy to make the images form and move and act our the story in your head. the tv is the hot medium because it makes the images move for you.

[statuskuo]

i think the peroblem is that our society (the idiot box) has cultivated many of us to have the attention span of a goldfish.

[SHEIK YERBOUTI]

Originally posted by square root:
it's a matter of convenience and distraction.... how can you get people to read when they can just look at pictures and some clever headlines? how do you get distracted children(who now look like circuit boards) to pay attention? a college education is almost a joke now. people say they don't have time, but they got time to talk about nothing on those cell phones. it gets easier to pacifiy the masses when you give them everything they want(i.e. the illusion of convenience and ease).

"shut up, everything has been provided for you...." "Give them Bread and Circuses." Of course the straw that broke the camels back was "Let Them Eat Cake." This was pretty closely followed by the French Revolution.

We truly live in the culture of the SOUNDBITE. Why else are these right wing talk show types so influential? Are we that easily entertained? What's next, Bloodsports? Are we really that far away?

Any ideas how close WE might be to revolution? I expect Limbaugh or Hannity, no COULTER to make the next "...Cake" statement. Wouldn't that be appropriate? She would make a wonderful Marie Antoinette! I think they'd all be first against the wall, or first in line at the chopping block.

I'd spring for the popcorn! ;)

[Pete Nice]

Originally posted by statuskuo:
i think the peroblem is that our society (the idiot box) has cultivated many of us to have the attention span of a goldfish. this is what i'm saying, but it's just tnot he t.v. everything is geared towards fast and easy. "it'll just take a couple of minutes". we develop technology faster than we can truly understand it's impact. kids can't even count back change if the register doesn't do it for them. the media and corperations got people where they need them. right there listening to spokespersons tell us what we want. no questions asked, no reason to think at all. okay i'm straying now. what are doing to children, raising human beings or consumers? children are a good reflection of adults and society at large. look at them and then the adults. we help create what children are.

[SHEIK YERBOUTI]

Originally posted by square root:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by statuskuo:
i think the peroblem is that our society (the idiot box) has cultivated many of us to have the attention span of a goldfish. this is what i'm saying, but it's just tnot he t.v. everything is geared towards fast and easy. "it'll just take a couple of minutes". we develop technology faster than we can truly understand it's impact. kids can't even count back change if the register doesn't do it for them. the media and corperations got people where they need them. right there listening to spokespersons tell us what we want. no questions asked, no reason to think at all. okay i'm straying now. what are doing to children, raising human beings or consumers? children are a good reflection of adults and society at large. look at them and then the adults. we help create what children are. </font>[/QUOTE]People haven't been meant to be anything more than "consumers" for a LONG time now! I guess you're not properly "branded" yet...

[ August 06, 2003, 02:13 PM: Message edited by: toomuchtv ]

[flypitcher]

great thread