Comments on: Monday Musings http://conservablogs.com/haemet/2008/07/07/monday-musings/ The Truth Will Set You Free- John 8:32 Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:53:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Teresa http://conservablogs.com/haemet/2008/07/07/monday-musings/#comment-1279 Teresa Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:22:12 +0000 http://conservablogs.com/haemet/2008/07/07/monday-musings/#comment-1279 Roxeanne, Hey I'm always delighted when we can agree on something. :-) I think "better" is a loaded word. I mean, look at Mellville, Dickens and Tolstoy. Their works have a richness that is lacking in most modern literature. I think people will become more focused and efficient, and I think that works like that dont necessarily have to be 'unartistic"...but that is a danger of "better" writing. Take it from a copy-writer. :-) One of the reasons I ramble on my blog a lot is simply for the sheer joy of unfettered wool-gathering. And more than one or two people seem to enjoy reading it. ;-) though few comment. <em>Teresa's last blog post..<a href='http://www.anomalousdata.com/Kitties+In+Trouble.aspx' rel="nofollow">Kitties in trouble!</a></em> Roxeanne,

Hey I’m always delighted when we can agree on something. :-)

I think “better” is a loaded word. I mean, look at Mellville, Dickens and Tolstoy. Their works have a richness that is lacking in most modern literature.

I think people will become more focused and efficient, and I think that works like that dont necessarily have to be ‘unartistic”…but that is a danger of “better” writing.

Take it from a copy-writer. :-) One of the reasons I ramble on my blog a lot is simply for the sheer joy of unfettered wool-gathering. And more than one or two people seem to enjoy reading it. ;-) though few comment.

Teresa’s last blog post..Kitties in trouble!

]]> By: Roxeanne de Luca http://conservablogs.com/haemet/2008/07/07/monday-musings/#comment-1276 Roxeanne de Luca Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:08:25 +0000 http://conservablogs.com/haemet/2008/07/07/monday-musings/#comment-1276 Great points, Teresa. :) Thank you. :) I wonder: if people are getting used to having information distilled for them in a concise, reader-appropriate form, won't that mean that there will be a market for people who are able to do such distilling, and, more importantly, people will become better writers? Great points, Teresa. :) Thank you. :)

I wonder: if people are getting used to having information distilled for them in a concise, reader-appropriate form, won’t that mean that there will be a market for people who are able to do such distilling, and, more importantly, people will become better writers?

]]> By: Teresa http://conservablogs.com/haemet/2008/07/07/monday-musings/#comment-1275 Teresa Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:17:38 +0000 http://conservablogs.com/haemet/2008/07/07/monday-musings/#comment-1275 And then again, there's the question of how much you can read in eight minutes... ...for instance, I'm not exactly a speed reader, and eight minutes is more than enough time to get through a chapter or two in your average novel. It would be more useful (but probably sound less alarming)to say how many pages of print a person reads. Besides, our literacy rate in this country is constantly increasing. Add to that the fact that what constitutes "basic" literacy is also expanding (as we become more information-dependent and our society becomes more complex)...and what we have is a population where a higher and higher percentage of people are meeting an increasingly difficult basic literacy standard... This alarmism about our "failing" education system continues to perplex me, as well as all of this malarky about how information-rich media like the internet is making us dumber. Sure, its changing our focus from one set of literacy skills (maintaining levels of interest in a text despite large amounts of non-relevant information, for example) and re-foucusing them on others (scanning, skimming, summarizing) But is that a BAD thing? Maybe the current generation has a larget percentage of people who won't be able to make it through Mellville or Tolstoy or Dickens (due to frustration/boredome with the meandering, unfocused style)...but even the previous generation would admit that they could have benefitted from an editor. Time people got the hint that "changing" doesn't always mean "bad". :-) <em>Teresa's last blog post..<a href='http://www.anomalousdata.com/Michael+Sheard+And+A+Man+Called+Roadkill.aspx' rel="nofollow">Michael Sheard and A Man Called Roadkill</a></em> And then again, there’s the question of how much you can read in eight minutes…
…for instance, I’m not exactly a speed reader, and eight minutes is more than enough time to get through a chapter or two in your average novel.

It would be more useful (but probably sound less alarming)to say how many pages of print a person reads.

Besides, our literacy rate in this country is constantly increasing. Add to that the fact that what constitutes “basic” literacy is also expanding (as we become more information-dependent and our society becomes more complex)…and what we have is a population where a higher and higher percentage of people are meeting an increasingly difficult basic literacy standard…

This alarmism about our “failing” education system continues to perplex me, as well as all of this malarky about how information-rich media like the internet is making us dumber.

Sure, its changing our focus from one set of literacy skills (maintaining levels of interest in a text despite large amounts of non-relevant information, for example) and re-foucusing them on others (scanning, skimming, summarizing) But is that a BAD thing?

Maybe the current generation has a larget percentage of people who won’t be able to make it through Mellville or Tolstoy or Dickens (due to frustration/boredome with the meandering, unfocused style)…but even the previous generation would admit that they could have benefitted from an editor.

Time people got the hint that “changing” doesn’t always mean “bad”.

:-)
Teresa’s last blog post..Michael Sheard and A Man Called Roadkill

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