On pg. 50 and 51 in Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman writes that "reading is an essentially rational activity", and borrows the idea that the habits of mind when reading encourages rationality and that the written word fosters "analytical management of knowledge". He claims that to engage in the written word means to follow a line of thought, uncover lies, weigh ideas, compare and contrast assertions, and connect generalizations. This is not necessarily true in the modern, partially typographic society. Truthfully, when we are assigned books to read, students don't always engage their full attention and thought to the book. Some students are reading while their mind is somewhere else, others skim through the book, and most students just use a nifty little resource called Sparknotes. I admit that I have used Sparknotes. Who hasn't?
I also disagree in the fact that "print put forward a definition of intelligence that gave priority to the objective, rational use of the mind". Rational thought is not always used in reading. In fact, rational thought was primarily used in the Scientific Revolution and in mathematics. Postman also states the idea that education/intelligence was literacy. Literacy does not mean you are smart. There are illiterate people who function rationally, and there are literate people who don't. People can be Book Smart and Street Smart. Generally, people with book smarts don't have much common sense, social knowledge, or reasoning. On the other hand, people that have street smarts are not always the top of their class. There is a combination of the two, and that is what I believe is educated/intelligence. What do you think? Is literacy education/intelligence?
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Well, I do agree that people can both be Book Smart and Street Smart. It's just I believe that you are more of one than the other. I mean can you really be both equally? Maybe there are a few people who are like that in the world. If there are, I would definitely like to meet them! And I agree that there are people in the world who are illiterate but function well with people in general. Now to answer: is literacy education/intelligence? Hmm, I think if you know how to read and write, you are at least educated. Does that mean you’re educated in science or math? Not necessarily.There were living examples such as pioneers and people who lived as late as the early 1900's. They weren’t very educated, some not going to formal education training or leaving as early as the 3rd grade to help with the families. However, they were able to invent machines and survive on their own with or without literacy.
ReplyDeleteWhoa: "Generally, people with book smarts don't have much common sense, social knowledge, or reasoning."
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with this statement. It is true that many people show that their book smarts exceed their common sense, and vice versa, but can you truly say "generally". You say in this blog that, and im going to steal Mrs. Fletchers quote, "Generally, people with book smarts don't have much common sense, social knowledge, or reasoning." "Generally" implies "most people", which is very close to an absolute. Furthermore "common sense" is a loose term that if asking different people, may mean different things. This is a broad assumption and it is on the brink of becoming short minded.
ReplyDeleteI am also going to take Mrs. Fletcher's quote here. Using the word “generally” gives the idea that a lot of people with book smarts do not have common sense and those other things. I think that anybody can be book smart and street smart in different ways, but still be more of one than the other. What you learn outside of school and the books can teach you things that you would not learn in these areas, at least in some people's opinions. However, hitting those books can teach anybody things that they wouldn't even see in the streets. Also, I agree with you on the first paragraph. I can't agree with Postman's saying of engaging in the written word. I'll admit it, I don't “engage” my full attention to a book all of the time. I'm not the only person that's like this. It's not a problem, though, it's just how some people are when it comes to books.
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