Illiteracy appears to be on the decline: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy
Sometimes a visual is interesting too. http://www.mapsofworld.com/thematic-maps/world-illiteracy-map.htm Of course, the USA has its issues. http://www.caliteracy.org/rates/ Other sources: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2103.html And, it is obvious that definitions affect all such reporting. On Mar 5, 5:37 am, Pat <[email protected]> wrote: > On 4 Mar, 02:02, Molly <[email protected]> wrote: > > > "If the novel goes the way of live theater – a medium appealing to > > only a small, relatively rarefied segment of the population – what, if > > anything, will be lost? What can a novel do for us that other art > > forms can’t?” > > >http://siobhancurious.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/encountering-the-other... > > > What do you think? > > I don't think it's likely to go away. In fact, the newer concepts of > e-books are more likely to fade away than pen-on-paper due to the > potential for electronic sabotage. Whilst Great Libraries (like > Alexandria) may burn and destroy many instances of great works, the > concept of writing won't fade unless the entire species is wiped out, > as even most illiterates know about writing and, given a crises, may > re-develop it, as illiteratacy doesn't, of necessity, imply > uneducability or lack of intelligence. Heck, we still have The Epic > of Gilgamesh (an example of a very old 'novel') written in cuneiform > on clay tablets, and that's lasted for thousands of years. > > Even human extinction may not wipe out literature from the Earth, as > it may pave the way for other species to evolve and create their own. > It would be interesting to hear the tales written by intellectual > insects: The Story of the Lazy Bee; The Emperor Moth's Post-Pupate > Clothes; 50 Ways to Kill You Lover by B. Widow and P. Mantis. The > list goes on... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.
