So it seems that America is full of functional illiterates. My perceptions of my homeland have been correct for years. I was reaffirmed by the TV news and Internet. It really makes me wonder why I desire to be a published writer when there aren't enough people who want to read anything in my native language.
According to the reports, about a quarter of all Americans didn't read a single book last year. Apparently, one of the most common reasons for this was, "Reading makes me sleepy," or some similar BS excuse. The Internet article stated that liberals read more than conservatives. Well, after looking at the figures, I don't see any significant difference--both sides seem to be at the same level of laziness.
I did notice one flaw in the "study" of reading habits. It makes no mention of what people read (i.e. fiction, non-fiction, poetry). It also leaves out newspapers and magazines. I'd like to know if those same people who don't read books happen to at least keep up with current events. But such studies will never be done because not enough people care about that statistic.
3 comments:
Yes, America's literate populace appears to be dwindling. Thankfully, there are places like Austin. One can hear people discussing what they read at dinner, in the grocery store and on the streets. However, I can not speak so highly of my experiences in the rest of this state.
I'm enjoying your site...Thank you.
Perhaps books need to be as light as remote controls.
SOme of us more than make up for that quarter! But then, I'm English, and not born and educated here..
;-)
Your post on what is available in China is interesting! We get the idea in the US that almost everything is censored! I have never seen a blog on blogspot from China before, but maybe they're not all written in English, and I did set my language preferences.
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