Analogies can be enlightening, but also can oversimplify the situation. For me the great difference is the adaptive behaviours expressed by the populations in both cases.

The generalist agrarian workers were essential de-skilled to become factory worker specialising in an aspect of the production process. Confronted by the current changes brought about by technology people are having to re-skill themselves. The greatest area to re-skill is not the software, but in the concepts that lay behind the creation of text (in the very broadest sense of the world).

The written word is not dead, in fact many studies suggest that the ‘net gen’ actually read and write more than Gen X did at the same age. Some would argue that texting isn’t Tolstoy, but the scores are still on the board.

I totally reject that there is a specific ‘critical thinking’ skill associated with reading ‘books’. Critical thinking skills are critical thinking skills! The reading of texts (novels, poetry, TV ads, websites, a concept album, billboards) revolves around judgements of purpose and effectiveness, based on critical analysis of form, content and audience.

Being ‘pulled away from books’ by more participatory activities is natural thing – It is much more human ‘to do’ than just consume – Once the industrial revolution got going they didn’t need gin to sedate their feelings of dislocation because ‘consumption’ became the new Hunting and Gathering.

Books as with all ‘served’ media only give us the chance to deconstruct now we can construct. At the moment that construction is inconsistent, partly through technical competence, but largely because prosumers vary in understandings of the concepts behind deconstruction and construction.

As a media teacher this is precisely the process I teach. In the process of construction we value best professional practice (e.g. Tops selling ‘Manga’ if the student is proposing a graphic novel or Michel Moore’s work if students are producing a subjective/personality driven documentary) in so much as it guides our own construction.

This is the new paradigm: I will value ‘books’ only in so much as they inform and assists the construction of my own texts.

Those that continue to promote reading and writing as content you should consume, ‘because it is good for you’ will fail to convince contemporary students and possible be more sedating than Gin! Those that promote ‘books’ as essential parts of the process of constructing new personalised texts will attract an enthusiastic following of young people ready to leave off texting for a while to sit down with Tolstoy.

Gilbert,

Thank you for the incredibly thoughtful response. In fact, it is exactly the type of comment that greatly increases the value of a post, and that I hope other sites find a way to promote /leverage (when they get overrun with numerous silly ones – see my most recent post). You’ve given some great food for thought.

I like the picture posted yesterday by the way.