Today, by design, half of America is functionally illiterate. That is the way the elites want it, because that makes it easy to control people. Tens of millions of Americans are on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, watching videos, and this is their source of information and “truth”.
However, there are a number of books written on how ineffective television and videos are at encouraging critical thinking and remembering what one watches. One is, “Four Readons For The Elimination Of The Television,”, by a former television executive, Jerry Mander. Another is, “Amusing Ourselves To Death”, which is a very profound look at how television and videos have severely reduced Americans ability to critically think.
Reading and writing, lead to critical thinking, as you have to take symbols off of a page, and turn them into pictures in your own mind, when you read. When you were watching television or videos, your brain is literally working less than it is when you are asleep, and scientists have proved this with brain research.
The elites who run the Federal Reserve and rule the world from the shadows, use all kinds of disinformation, which is most easily spread by television, videos, social media, and radio, which they nearly all control.
It is easy to relinquish responsibility for our ideas over to trusted news authorities. But, few of us actually look into who funds these news sources, what are their motivations, and are they really in our own best interests?
It is very important that we get the majority of Americans back to reading and writing, which was pretty much the norm over 100 years ago, when we didn’t have these shadow elites running our money supply, and enslaving us. It is also very dangerous, because if we continue to rely on radio, podcast, videos, and television for our information and media, we risk having all of this information wiped out in an hour, and our sources of information, and indeed information about our very existence, completely wiped from human history in a few minutes.
In addition, consider, that in Russia and China, when the elites use their communist pawns, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and others, to take over and murdered 100 million, the conditions that allow this, were that tens of millions of peasants were illiterate, and very easy to control. All the elites did was wave money in front of the illiterate peasants, and got them to do their bidding, even if it included murdering their own fellow countrymen. And there are millions of Americans today who will murder their countrymen if you pay them enough.
Objection: Everyone has their own styles of learning.
Answer: That is completely false, just like we get better at lifting weights by doing it, the same is true for reading, the problem is very few Americans actually started habits of reading when they were young. Less than 5% of American homes have libraries in them, and desks for studying and writing at. Repetition is the mother of learning. Thomas Carlyle said, “Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains”. It is definitely harder to read, then it is to watch a video, watch a movie, watch television, listen to the radio, or listen to a podcast, but then, the only reward for doing easy, is it easy. And as Henry David Thoreau said, “Rivers and men both run crooked when they follow the path of least resistance”
Personal experience may not contain objective truth, but it possibly can obtain the objective truth. My personal experience, when verified with objective truth, shows me that the hundreds, if not thousands of videos and radio shows that I’ve listened to, have not come close to teaching me what I learned from reading books. My experiences are exactly what science says, the methods of learning in order of efficiency are, reading, listening, and last of all, watching videos or television.
Objection: there is a lot of written propaganda too.
Answer: That is true, however it is easier to discern objective truth when one reads, and critically evaluate what one is reading. When reading, it is possible to carefully meditate over what one reads, and read and reread it. That is much more difficult when listening, and it’s impossible if you’re listening to the radio. Also, one of the best ways to retain anything, is to write it down repetitively. This is why we had to write sentences when we were in trouble as children. Now, I have never seen anyone watching videos and watching television, who is taking notes on what they are watching. And I rarely see anybody listening to a podcast or radio who takes notes either. However, when you were reading, it’s possible to underline, highlight, copy, and pay special attention to certain passages. Concentration is extremely important when it comes to retaining and learning.
Objection: there are so many books, how will I know what to read.
Consider the story of the ceramics class, and consider the relationship between quality and quantity. To determine what is good, inspiring, and wise to read, will require either you learning from someone who has read a lot themselves, or you reading a lot yourself. Find someone who has read a lot and is wise, and ask them about their reading habits. Now, I know far too much about how little I know, so I am not going to profess that I am wise, but I do have 700 PDF books on my phone that I am transferring to my website messanonews.com.
Objection: Won’t Buying all these books be expensive?
Answer: Nearly all the very good books, are available for free on the Internet as PDF’s. However, who knows how much longer we will have access to the Internet, so it’s important to read them, and get them in print form as fast as possible.
Objection: But I’m not a good reader.
Answer: Good readers are not born, they are made. It is continuous effort at any activity that makes one an expert in that activity. Reading is an essential exercise in being able to determine what is the truth, and to shape one’s life accordingly.