Literature, Literacy, and the advance of human civilization
 

Since I graduated high school, I've maybe read 2-4 books.

From age 7 to 18 though, I read novels of my own accord for enjoyment. In first grade when I was 6 I had horrible grades in school. I don't remember 1st grade, but I had straight Ds. In 2nd grade, my grades were better. As, Bs, and Cs. In 3rd grade I was getting straight As and from then on I was usually one of the smartest kids in my class. Kids marvelled at the huge books I would tote around and read for sheer enjoyment. My taste was pretty bad at first, but it got better as I got older.

Anyways, since then I haven't read that much. I made a lot of excuses for not doing so. That I could never find a comfortable position for reading, that I never had time, etc.

And since then I've been a pretty unfunctioning person. I'm more functioning now than I was when I was 19 or 20, I've adjusted to it, but still. I've also developed pretty bad sleep habits.

Then this last week I finally got around to reading Phillip K. Dick's "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said." Now I'm reading Bukowski's "Ham on Rye." And my sleep habits are starting to get better. I have more energy, and I'm doing more.

The last time I felt like I was starting to pull together was this summer when I was in Europe when I read Alice in Wonderland and Dostoevsky's short story "The Dream of A Ridiculous Man."

It seems that acting as a functioning person and having good reading habits coincide.

Some people seem to disreguard printed word as an archaic media form. We've got video games and television and 3d movies.

But I think there is something about literature that is very nourishing to brain activity and function. You have to imagine sounds and images. It is more work for your brain and also more relaxing.

Printed word is usually credited in accelerating the development of human civilization by increasing the ease of communication. But I think that isn't completely it. I think literature has something that film, television, and radio don't have that is incredibly beneficial to human brain development.

Thoughts?

I don't think this is breaking news...

I know it is probably old news, but I always sort of took literature as just another form for art, communication, and entertainment. I didn't ever think of it as something more than that.

I think if we really want to help develop American minds more we need to require a proficiency at a second language in elementary school. 1) It'll be on the same level as most European countries' schools and 2) Learning a second language helps develop the brain way more, it makes it easier to learn other languages in the future, is better for job opportunities etc.

What the...!
Anyway , what foreign language do americans study the most , in school?

Probably Spanish.

My high school offered English, German, Spanish, and French.

Yeah, in my school Spanish is the most dominant (and probably most practical down here) but there is also French and German. But only two years of it is required to graduate, 3 recommended for college. Those two/three years isn't much, especially in teenage years because there are parts of your brain that are there for language that have stopped developing by then.

Frankly, I resent the fact that I didn't get to learn another language when I was younger.

LOL, I said my school offers English as a 2nd language.

That was an accident. I meant to say Latin.

So what I know two, I want to learn French.

Go live in France for a year.

Maybe when I finish college.

Books cure everything, hooray!

REALLY?!

Ouch.

Hah!
I saw it coming but still...

you gotta feed yr brains so you dont become a sorry mook

They don't say "Reading is FUNdaMENTAL" for nothing. See I made a spelling joke.

Ozzy Osbourne doesn't read because he says reading is not fundaMEnTAL.

See what I did there?

It's been forever since I've read some fiction. I always plan to but it always losses out to some treatise.

LOSES*