Tag-Archive for » intelligence «
The New York Times put out a pretty popular article debating whether or not reading online can actually constitute reading. Well, reading is reading, isn’t it? I obviously read that article online. Does it mean that it wasn’t “worthwhile” or up to par with those that think learning can only come from “good books”? Does the fact that more and more people turn to the internet to get their news mean they’re somehow dumber than those that get print ink on their fingers? Or is the only way to really learn is to feel the weight of a book in your hands?
Of course, the article focuses on sites like fanfiction.net to counter the “reading is reading” argument, of which many stories make the English language twitch at how it’s portrayed. Yeah, you’re sitting on your butt in front of a computer for hours reading stream-of-consciousness Mary Sue-isms. But you’re reading. A lot of what’s written on sites like fanfiction.net are not grammatically correct but neither are most people when they speak. Does it mean we should all walk around talking in a stilted language in order to prove that we’re not lacking in gray matter? I read stories on fanfiction.net. Does it mean my test scores might suffer?
I didn’t grow up with the internet. I had a slew of books at my disposal and still do. Too many to fit on the shelves that are way too small for them. I love books and nothing beats curling up on the couch and reading. Can’t do that with a laptop. But lets face it, Nora Roberts isn’t exactly John Steinbeck, now is she? Is her work somehow better than a piece online because it’s in tangible, sniffable book form? Is it not possible to find work that’s just as good online as you can buy in a brick and mortar store? Maybe even better?
I think the problem a lot of people have with internet reading is that it’s completely unadulterated (well, most of it). It doesn’t see the eyes of an editor and is printed in all it’s flawed glory. I think people fear that, because that’s what people are reading instead of the finely tuned scripts that are chosen and bound by publishers, that younger generations are going to lack the intelligence and reading and writing comprehension because their learning from sources that they “shouldn’t” be learning from. How dare we let those young ‘uns out into the world to learn for themselves, right?
If you’re an interneter like I am, I’m sure you’ve come across the wonders of anonymity and the mornonism that runs rampant on the internet. People don’t have to face up to any consequences. They sign on to a website with a handle that’s obviously not their name, whirl feces at the rotating device and run out and are fulling capable of functioning as if what they did didn’t just happen. No effect for the cause because the internet allows for such infantile behavior. It makes me wonder just what’s going through the head of the person on the other side of the screen, or should I say what’s not going through their head. Really, is a hobby that dastardly a thought? A game of pick-up at the school yard really that much effort to detach from the computer desk for an hour?
It’s one thing to have the internet loser flame at you for some random thing you post on some random message board. People flit in and out of those at their leisure. It’s another thing to have your writing up and people flame you for it. It happens. Why I have no idea. More than likely too much time on their hands. This happens a lot in fanfiction (although those fanfic authors are wont to distinguish flames from constructive criticism but that’s another post entirely). Frankly, though, a lot of fanfiction makes me want to say just what those flammers are saying but I leave it to them to look like an ass. I just shudder, scrub my brain and move on.
Then there’s the serial fiction. For whatever reason people can just be spiteful and leave tepid reviews simply for the sake of it. For them I recommend knitting. Or perhaps something that doesn’t involve small, pointy spears. Suction cup art. It just makes you wonder, what the hell’s the point? It’s usually obvious when a reviewer is being nasty for the sake of being nasty, especially considering they couldn’t motif their way out of a forest. They’re the ones that leave the reviews that you look at and go, “why bother?” Alas, to truly understand the motives of the anonymous interneter, one must shut off their brain entirely.
