-Prof. Tim
-----Original Message-----
From: KMO <kmo@c-realm.com>
To: virus@lucifer.com <virus@lucifer.com>
Date: Friday, April 09, 1999 3:32 PM
Subject: Re: virus: Too Much TV
>Language is adapting, by necessity, to work in the stream-lined time scale
of the
>electronic age. I agree that this is happening and that it is a good thing.
>
>What is also happening is that increasing numbers of fifteen-year-olds are
>starring at lines of print, furroughing their brows and struggling to get
out,
>"I... can... see... the... cat..." Spending an average of 6 hours a day (a
full
>third of their waking lives) watching television is a significant part of
the
>cause of this appalling situation. As a nation, we watch too much fucking
>television, and our kids, while still marvelously intelligent, adaptive,
and
>miraculously resilient, are increasingly functional illiterates who have
been
>thoroughly indoctrinated in what William Finnegan calls "the tepid faith of
>liberal consumerism." Sure, they're more comfortable with technology than
their
>parents, but that is to be expected, and the sacrifice of literacy is not a
>required toll for young people to be adapted and at home in their media
saturated
>environment.
>
>-KMO
>
>
>
>Bill Roh wrote:
>
>> Yes, I agree for the most part. i do think that at the elementary school
>> level, the US is doing well, statistically speaking, its about 6th-7th
grade
>> that our schools start failing. And there are still some excellent public
>> schools, though that number is certainly in question. I agree that proper
and
>> business English is suffering right now, and that it is causing harm.
>>
>> What I meant in my 5 word foray is: Due to the speed of communication,
people
>> that communicate in the way we do, Email, news groups, instant messages,
>> etc... especially the young, are evolving this new computer speak we
have.
>> Many find fault with this, I don't. I think we have the opportunity to
make a
>> new, fast and highly functional language, a literacy standard like your
>> definition below made up of CYAs and LOLs.
>>
>> Bill Roh
>>
>> KMO wrote:
>>
>> > I have considerable sympathy for this idea. Even so, literacy as
defined
>> > as the ability to look at strings of static words on a page or screen
and
>> > effortlessly and spontaneously have images and complex ideas form in
>> > one's consciousness as a result of that activity is a skill that is
>> > imparted less and less by public education but is still consistently
>> > imparted to students in private academies and by home schooling. It's
not
>> > the only means of conveying or receiving information, and those, like
>> > Harold Bloom, author of "Closing of the American Mind," who define
>> > cultural literacy as familiarity with the cannon of Western
Civilization
>> > are oblivious to important new ways of thinking and communicating.
>> >
>> > Still, the ability to express oneself in writing and to be able to read
>> > and comprehend what others have written is a valuable skill that
improves
>> > ones ability to navigate consciously in a memetic landscape. It is also
a
>> > skill that the institutions of public education in the US are
>> > increasingly unable to impart to students.
>> >
>> > -KMO
>> >
>> > Sodom wrote:
>> >
>> > > Literacy isn't falling - its adapting
>> > >
>> > > Bill Roh
>> > >
>> > > > -----Original Message-----
>> > > > From: owner-virus@lucifer.com
>> > > > [mailto:owner-virus@lucifer.com]On Behalf
>> > > > Of KMO
>> > > > Sent: Friday, April 09, 1999 2:05 PM
>> > > > To: virus@lucifer.com
>> > > > Subject: virus: Too Much TV
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > > Dr Sebby wrote:
>> > > >
>> > > > > Downfall?..sometimes i wonder where it is 'we're' falling from.
>> > > >
>> > > > As a society, literacy.
>> > > >
>> > > > -KMO
>> > > >
>