My main disagreement with the piece is that writing, as you have described it, is a new phenomenon in human history. Before the printing press, there was little to be read by any but the most learned. Certainly no fiction. And even after the printing press, reading was still limited to a small group (though this obviously had a dramatic impact on western civilization). I would argue that it’s not until public education took hold in the western world that many of us acquired the kind of reading you describe…I’d peg that somewhere in the first half of the twentieth century. And even then, we’re talking about a particular demographic. I submit that for just about all of human history, activities other than reading have kept us safe.

What does keep us safe? I think you talk about it in your piece, though you conflated it with writing/reading: story telling and the vibrant (unplugged) communities through which our stories are kept alive. I agree with Postman (actually, I got the idea from Postman) that we are being distracted from the kind of community and the traditional forms of storytelling that used to keep us safe.

Thanks for giving us some weighty ideas to think about.

Greg

Books are a two-way street for creativity, one that should be celebrated and fiercely defended. I get a certain satisfaction from being “plugged in” during the day, but it pales in comparison to the natural high I get from un-plugging later at night with a good book. Words challenge, entertain, and engage to a degree no movie or TV show ever could.

This is one of the reasons I’m so appreciative of gifted writers like you, Mark. The written word is a carefully choreographed dance, and it’s empowering to have such varied and talented partners.