#002: The Literacy Crisis

#002: The Literacy Crisis

By Hassan Syed 

People often react to physical dangers very seriously, especially when they are brazen or disruptive in nature. The COVID-19 era has taught us well the hysteria that proliferates when humans, en masse, enter a state of existential fear. However, sometimes epidemics get unnoticed, as if a type of glitch in the system of humanity has occurred which doesn’t get noticed until its wreaked havoc, irreversible havoc. There are many such epidemics, some more pernicious than others. Myopia in the modern world is showing up in catastrophic levels. A record number of people, especially the younger generation, cannot see far into the distance anymore (more on this and its spiritual implication in a later entry). To the joy of apathetic optometrists around the world, 30% of people suffer from Myopia and by 2050 that number will probably reach 50% according to some researchers. The epidemic that this write-up focusses on is the reading epidemic and its vile consequences.  

The Reading epidemic is startling. Especially given the fact that humanity is most schooled today than ever before. It turns out that the famous quote, misattributed to Mark Twain but originally from Allan Grant, was correct in its assessment that one of the keys to success is to never let schooling get in the way of education. The world is most definitely the most literate its ever been, yet, we are also the community that reads the least of those people who could read in previous eras. The prophet (saw) prophesized this in a number of narrations that can be summarized as such, ‘at the ends of times the pens would proliferate yet knowledge would be stifled.’