The New Illiteracy

… and how to overcome it?

I believe in a far more vivid, dynamic and subjective interpretation of the word ‘literacy’.

In its most basic interpretation (i.e. as far as the government is responsible for), literacy is the ability of a person to read, write and interact with common verbal and non-verbal sources and systems of information that we have built as a species, over the past several millennia.

Or, more concisely, literacy is the basic set of tools a human needs to interact with the human society, contribute back to it, and acquire more knowledge.

A person in possession of these tools are ‘literates’, and a community with more literates is more likely to be both wealthy and well-off, proficient and prosperous.

Thus, every government that cares for its people (not all governments do, but that’s another talk), encourages literacy — through schools.

In most advanced and developing nations, basic literacy is a human right, done fairly right.

From personal anecdotes and my candid interactions with other working millennials of about my age — hearing and experiencing many aspects of a modern young man’s life — I am beginning to question whether literacy is all about being able to read and write.

I have survived graduate school at least once, and I can do those things apparently. However surprisingly, of late, I am facing a new set of challenges.

I can hardly relax without feeling guilt about pending work.

I am no longer being able to finish reading books. I am content reading pages, patches and paragraphs.

I have problems recalling formulae, or solving problems without searching the Internet.

I have become more informed without having to internalize. For example, I can speak about distant lands and cultures without having traveled. Thus, every new thing I encounter, I carry the baggage of a pre-formed bias about it.

All my feelings of surprise has been replaced by feelings of ‘Oh! I have seen it before.’ The feeling is like all your birthday presents have been unwrapped while you were wiping the cake off your face.

I call my set of problems as ‘new illiteracy’. It is not adult ADHD, it is something simpler. This means, I am in search of a new set of fundamental tools to interact with the evolving world around me.

Unlike the basic language and numerical skills, the next level of literacy that I seek is not defined nor discussed.

Thus, most young people are left to figure it out themselves, or go through life without comprehension. The excuse becomes, ‘Life’s too hard to understand’, ‘Life’s a mystery’, ‘Life’s full of surprises’.

I can only speak for myself, and I’d rather not judge if anybody else of my generation in dire need of new tools to deal with their future life. To self-diagnose, I have narrowed down the symptoms of new illiteracy as follows:

The irresistible urge for quick fixes

Spending time learning hacks

Spending more time bootstrapping, less time building.

Preparing to ‘crack’ an examination, instead of getting to the bottom of what it stands for.

Searching for code snippets instead of learning a programming language.

Focussing on scale over substance, quantitative growth, instead of an organic desire to make fundamental contributions.

2. Impatience to internalize

Not remembering formulae or basics of the trade.

Inability to function without access to the Internet

Very quickly judging reading material to be not worthy of your time.

3. “I don’t have time for that”

Treating things like spending time with family or friends as a chunk out of productive time.

No clear list of work-priorities, leading to work occupying the mind all the time.

Inability to relax without checking for emails or responding to emails, as if every response is a matter of life or death.

There is a deadline always around the corner.

Taking somewhat pride in being ‘Busy’

Taking time off to exercise to stay fit becomes a luxury.

4. Impassivity

Having preconceived notions for places, people or things not experienced in person.

Not being proactive, or learning how to solve a problem knowing the task at hand can be done by delegation or by paying someone else to do it.

Not being aware of consequences before committing an action.

Lack of empathy

Increase of arrogance, sense of superiority, stopping to ‘give a F’ !

You might have noticed, all my points can be traced back to the virtue of patience. Thus, circling back to what you must have known for ages, let me re-iterate— with sufficient practice of patience, life’s surprises can be better understood and dealt with. Among the valuable lessons in life’s spirals and other geometries, there is no royal road to increase patience. For some it comes naturally with age, like wrinkles on their skin. Patience, like wealth, needs to be sown, grown and harvested, over time. A little every day. Some achieve higher patience via meditation and yoga, or even fight club, if you are into that kind of thing.

Whichever option looks like something you will enjoy, one will be able to leverage it to the fullest and gradually acquire the new set of tools that they need for a better future self. However, I feel I should be more objective than simply preaching patience. I have summarized my action plan as suggested flavors of the cure to my new illiteracy problem: