Give Me Literacy, or Give Me Death

Ben Dover

Professor Jack Kouph

English Composition II

August 1, 2015

Give Me Literacy, Or Give Me Death

From an early age, reading and writing is emphasized. Though it is often seen as an inconvenience when we are young, written language is possibly the most important component of our communication as a species. The ability to read and write has given us the opportunity to communicate beyond verbal speaking. We can advance our intelligence through reading other’s experiences. Lastly, reading opens the option to delve into worlds or lives we otherwise could not experience through seeing or hearing.

Humans, without getting too far into the existential history of our origins, somewhere along the way developed the ability to form complex language. This allowed us to more effectively communicate our desires and intentions for survival. While it may be the most understood form of communication, verbal communication had flaws in the fact that is required all parties involved to be present at a certain location at the same time to effectively reach its intended audience. The desire for something beyond this delivery of information can be traced all the way back to the era of the Homo habilis with cave paintings. These crude drawings illustrated different tasks of the “cave man” as we refer to them, perhaps as an attempt to record their history with dried plant pigments among various other methods to draw with. Through many centuries of socialization and refinement, we have come to a time where a written message it often the most effective means of communicating an idea or experience. This has allowed humans to gather, collectively, a library of the components of our history. Written communication has advanced vastly since the digital revolution, allowing more and more people access to information only dreamed of before. Literacy is at an all-time high, with an estimated 85% of the world’s population able to read and write, which has contributed to our rapid development and growth as a species.

Literacy allows for knowledge to be transmitted through written texts to further our abilities. In the ages before reading and writing, a commoner’s life in the late 1600s would consist of having to learn through apprenticeships. Instead of a developed system where individuals go where they feel best suited to or most comfortable, the vast majority of citizens were confined to having to work at the same places as their parents, doing the same careers for generations to come. While effective as a family trade and allowing for mastery of certain arts, this stagnation of skill allocation restricted many from further developing society. In today’s society, everything one could wish to know is just one Internet search away from his/her grasp. No longer is it necessary to attend a lecture from a professor when the same topic is covered online in a “pdf” file for free. With the ability to read and a local library or Internet access allows for near infinite possibilities as to what one could discover or learn. History of past events has prevented humans from making the same mistakes, and helped our species to prepare for future obstacles. Literacy may be the most vital tool humans have as it allows for the transfer of information through various medias, and as natural problem solvers, this information when applied to current challenges lets humans overcome what has not been faced before. As humans, our intelligence and hunger for knowledge is what makes us superior to other species. That said, it would be foolish to not take advantage of the tools provided by various literature to learn.

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