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Reading.
Or rather, how so many people seem fear and avoid it, or can't do it. Something like 21% of adults in the US are illiterate, and the majority -- 54% -- read at or below a 6th grade level.
I've been a sight reader probably since I was about six years old. I absolutely cannot look at any words legibly written in my native language and not understand them. You couldn't force me to look at words written in English and not digest them if you held a gun to my head. I fear no wall of text, no matter how tall it is.
It takes some effort to wrap your head around the notion that not only can most people not do this, but statistically speaking most or at least a plurality of people have to struggle or exert conscious effort to read and many of them are loathe to do so. And roughly one in five people simply can't. This did not sink in for me when I was younger.
I can't imagine having to live my life that way. You nerds have seen how much bullshit I write in a day; I'd go absolutely bats.
As a kid I kept asking librarians why libraries were so empty of people if they had so many books and it took me years to understand the sadness in her shrug.
As someone with ADHD I see both sides here. I will devour a good book in no time. But put something i don't enjoy in front of me and I'd rather die than read it.
That stat is wild, reading is such a foundational skill in today's world.
I was thinking that I can't imagine not immediately comprehending written words. Then I realized that I already do that in German. It takes a bit of effort. It's really surprising that so many people live their lives like that with their native language.
I honestly don't know how it can be possible, especially these days with everything done on phones and the internet. It does help me to understand the appeal of Tiktok, Instagram, YouTube, etc though.
I don't even know what reading bellow 6th grade means.
picture books? not long texts that requires abstract thinking, like non-fiction, most definitely not HISTORY books, chemsitry, or math. a well written book is usually pretty dense, and a crappy one like some "cladestines operations" type novels are usually like a childs book.,
It takes some effort to wrap your head around the notion that not only can most people not do this, but statistically speaking most or at least a plurality of people have to struggle or exert conscious effort to read and many of them are loathe to do so. And roughly one in five people simply canât. This did not sink in for me when I was younger.
what do you mean people look at words and don't process them automatically? Is there like, research on this i can read or something? I don't think i believe you.
I though people were just stupid, and chose not to.
Literacy is a skill that needs to be taught. If it isn't taught, or is taught poorly, well...
i mean obviously, but unless you aren't teaching kids how to read/write in school, the amount of complete ignorance you would need to expend in your adult life to backslide so far on something so ingrained into your brain structure is genuinely impressive.