Society
Historian HW Brands predicts we are at the beginning of the end of the age of literacy
Julian Dorey Daily
#1 American Historian on the UNTAPPED Secrets of the Revolution | H.W. Brands
"I've had this theory for about the last 20 years that we're at the beginning of the end of the age of literacy. And so the age of literacy really sort of general literacy began when Gutenberg invented his movable press and so for the first time books were something that ordinary people could hope to buy. But we're now at a stage where it's quite possible to get pretty much all the information you need about the world without reading much."
University of Texas historian HW Brands argues that the 600-year era of mass literacy that began with Gutenberg's printing press is ending. He points to declining library usage and students no longer consulting books as evidence that society is reverting to predominantly audio-visual information consumption. Brands suggests future book readers will be like scholars who wrote in Latin after Rome's fall—a small elite class.
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