Book Literacy, Web Literacy

Sunday’s NY Times article Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading? probes the difference between reading a book and reading online, and brings up the definition and importance of literacy.

I can’t help but think that both forms of reading are important. I think that hyperlinks and surfing have organically developed as a consequence of a particular form of brain activity—the gathering of information from multiple sources to reach a quick conclusion. We were capable of this function long before the Internet arrived; in ancestral days we took stock of the look of the sky and the smell of the air and the worried look on village elders’ faces before heading out for the hunt or a warring raid. Nowadays we scan sites and pull in bits and bytes to reach some conclusion in a short time.

This talent is useful for quick assessments, and at times it is necessary, but it has become the equivalent of a fast food addiction, or substituting pornography for a relationship, intimacy, and lovemaking. What was once rapid information evaluation aimed at crisis management has become an everyday affair. Because of our speed-and-greed culture, may folks live in a stressful, hypertension-inducing, obesity-creating frenzy wherein deep thinking and thoughtful consideration have become rarities.

Reading a book represents not only the old style of learning but the old pace of learning too. Done more slowly and at greater depth, it leads to critical evaluations that take place away from the book as the subconscious, intuitive mind ponders those things fed to it over a period of contemplation. As a person who alternates between writing novels and blogging—and who turned to martial arts and meditation to quiet a hyperactive mind—a lack of ability to consider things deeply is a scenario familiar to me. I know it is easier to skim, or to take someone else’s word for things.

The free flowing thought processes that the Net empowers can be good and creative and liberating. The Internet unlocks information and enhances communication, and in that it can contribute to the awakening of the world. A loss of ability to think deeply and critically, however, means that our children and theirs may not know what to do with the information they find. Unable to separate fact from fiction, they may become easy pretty for manipulation from authorities, even totalitarians. Real knowledge is a form of freedom, which is why I believe cultivating BOTH forms of literacy is key.