One assertion I hear quite frequently regarding my generation (people born between 1985 and 1991) is that we don't read. This is completely untrue. I am willing to bet that "kids these days" read more than any previous generation. We are just reading different stuff. This post is about the evolution and perhaps the death of the written word.
You are reading a blog. It is not written by anyone special. It probably has no lasting import. It's also probably representative of what is being read right now by many American millenials. Except that this post is usually punctuated correctly, it is no different than most online sources of verbage from Facebook to MySpace.
How does this differ so much from the past? The material in question is being consumed by the same people who produce it, and the production process requires no real effort. Consequently, little that is new or profound or challenging is produced, and still less is consumed. Finding anything worth reading requires sorting through mountains of detritus.
The best place to look for worthwhile material is to the past, to the works of Twain, Poe, Verne, Austen, Locke, Longfellow, books and poetry that provoke thought. Why are these works seldom read by most people I know (and, I admit, by myself)? More tellingly, why do I sound like a snob when I mention them? In short, they require effort to read. Gratification is not instant; one must put energy into a good book to gain any insight from it. This is something people are naturally loathe to do. The difference now is that we have so many easier options. Why read The Wealth of Nations when I can get the same information in ten minutes on Wikipedia?
Here we find the impact of the harm, as a debater would put it. When we cease to turn to reputable sources for our knowledge, policies, and philosophy, we too swiftly forget that they exist. All ideas have equal merit; the weight of antiquity and authority is absent.
The solution? I don't know. Our apathy is quite likely terminal. I hope, though, that people will eventual tire of wading through seas of drivel to find good literature and stop reading blogs like this one. A return to real literature may be forced by the expansion of its very enemies.
In the meantime, enjoy the Information Age. Shame most of it is not new and even less is actually helpful information.
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A well informed and educated person is both mollified and vexed by the literature he or she chooses to read.
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