EVERYONE SEES A LITERACY CRISIS, BUT NO ONE CLAIMS A ROLE

Almost everyone agrees a literacy crisis exists. Almost no one believes the crisis includes them. My grandmother had a line for this behavior. She asked what the point of being ignorant is if you never display your ignorance. Her question describes our time well.

People point to weaker critical thinking and declining reading and writing skills. Information is everywhere and convenience grows each year, yet many people seem to know less. Online, replies turn every topic toward the writer, readers miss propaganda and smear campaigns, and writers qualify every statement because too many readers fail to grasp context.

The 2023 adult skills survey run by the National Center for Education Statistics shows lower average literacy scores for U.S. adults than in 2017.

The part I find most frustrating is the lack of ownership. Most people believe they understand more than others do. Some rank themselves above every generation before them.

Each person believes their take is the best and their knowledge is rare. Confident errors, misinformation, wild conspiracy theories and claims taken out of context are widespread. When corrected, people switch arguments, double down and refuse to concede. Few show any willingness to learn.

Why ego and ignorance feed each other

The average person’s sense of self looks larger than ever. Perhaps the egos people carry are the best sign of this literacy crisis.

Ignorance and self-regard seem tied together. The less you understand, the smaller your world becomes. If you do not read, study or listen, your ideas look like the best ones, because you never meet anyone else’s.

In a good way, every book I read makes me feel less significant. Every museum I visit shows me how brief our place in human history is. Every new subject shows me how little I know. Without exposure to other ideas, you treat your own as the most important. Without research and judgment, your thoughts stay alone and your ego grows unchecked.

Ignorance and ego together form a cycle. You lack knowledge, and you refuse to listen or learn because you think you know more than everyone. Leaving the cycle is difficult.

Why learning stopped feeling normal

Screens, parents reading less and teaching methods all get blamed for the literacy crisis. I also see a cultural cause. Our society struggles with learning and growth. Once formal education ends, most people stop learning because no one encourages them. You are expected to know everything. If you do not, people tell you to pretend you do.

Not knowing signals weakness. Admitting mistakes signals even more weakness, and people sometimes see a mistake as a moral failure. Reading, writing and pursuing interests often get labeled pretentious and performative. This atmosphere does not build curiosity or vulnerability. Learning requires both.

How you improve your own literacy

Talk about the literacy crisis overlooks one fact. You are able to improve your own literacy at any time. Personal effort does not replace fixes for systemic failures. Your effort does shift how society treats learning.

Set your ego aside. Admit you likely share in the literacy crisis to some degree, as we all do. Everyone is better off once each person admits this.

Keep improving your understanding of the world. Read. Write. Take on harder material. Get comfortable being wrong. Admit when you do not understand something. Stop treating these moments as moral failings, in yourself or in others.

Daily life grows easier and more on demand, so each of us should challenge ourselves more. Being well educated and literate is a lifelong commitment. The pursuit ends only on the day you die.