The Written Word

Yesterday Ole Blue The Heretic posted about literacy and it’s decline in the modern world. The Literate and Illiterate War

I fear that the implied conclusions; that despite the shocking sums our nation spends upon education we are getting less able to comprehend the written word, may just be true. It is a disturbing concept to contemplate.

I fear that it just may be true because of a surreal experience I had at work a couple of years ago.

I work for a large and formal institution. One of my major functions in that environment is the writing of factual information that is provided to the general public. This institution prides itself on employing the very best and brightest, and in my view the culture is such that those who do not meet that very high standard are very quickly let go, or leave on their own due to the stress involved with trying to meet the expected mark.

My surreal experience from a couple of years ago came when I attended some writing classes offered by the institution that employs me. The classes were designed to teach us how to write for the fourth grade reading level.

These classes were provided because the institution had learned that the average person could read and comprehend adequately at that level, but no higher. It was suggested that if we wanted to be understood, we had better ‘dumb ourselves down.’

Clear and reasoned thinking requires language. Without adequate words we cannot reach correct conclusions based upon rational thought, nor communicate those conclusions to others. Language is the basis of thought, the basis of human existence at any level above barbarism.

If we loose language, we loose our ability for thought. If we ‘dumb down’ our language we restrict our ability to think. Indeed, our mastery of words is the most important capacity possessed by humanity. That we, as individuals, would allow ourselves to loose our mastery of language is unthinkable to me. That any normal adult would allow himself or herself to remain illiterate our even to remain at a fourth grade reading level is shocking to me.

Words are the richness of humanity, without their mastery we miss out on so very much.

Just a quick run through my little blogroll shows this. In addition to The Heretic we have Honey, A Girl in Short Shorts, Cascade Exposures, and One Minute Writer.

Ms. Honey writes of love, intimacy, and a delightful pervyness that adds tremendous color to everyday life. A Girl in Short Shorts communicates complex and dull political theory in an entertaining and humorous way. Cascade Exposures is a photography blog, it communicates via images, yet even so it requires words for without words the images would loose important context and perspective. One Minute Writer is a simple and fun tool that will help to improve mastery of language for those who use it.

Each of these sites, and the communicators behind them understand the importance of words, of literacy. It is disturbing to me that apparently so many in our society do not.