Does literacy help make a better person?
First, let me put it out there that literacy isn't just in one field. Literacy has a vast definition. I mean, there are two definitions I know of, which are:
- The ability to read and write.
- The ability to understand and evaluate something.
Let's look at the first definition, which is the simplest — the ability to read and write.
The first question was — Does literacy help make a better person?
Using the first definition, I think we can all agree the answer is a big, bold NO!
When I checked the dictionary and saw that first definition, I was like, isn't this just one of the many definitions inside the second one? Someone can be literate in one thing and be illiterate in another thing.
I understand reading and writing is an important skill, but people using it to judge others is unwise.
I don't even know if they still do that in the modern world.
These days, a certificate can mean nothing.
I know of someone who has a first-class certificate, and when you see him you would think he is literate in his field of study — but no.
He found a way to make easy money in level 200 and stopped going to school. He stayed over 3 years without stepping into a class, but somehow he was able to buy himself a first-class certificate.
The same way a certificate on the outside can hide illiteracy inside is just the same way literacy on the outside can hide a wicked heart.
Literacy has nothing to do with the heart.
And it is the heart that determines what makes a better person.
But here is where the problem comes in — some people would say school is a scam and still say learning happens everywhere.
Schools are good because they teach things that we can't learn elsewhere.
So, would I say being literate makes for better parents and better neighbors?
Well, yes… and no.
As much as literacy is good and can teach people how to be better, it still comes down to their choice to be better or not.
Let's say you have two kids. You give one a toothbrush and don't give the other.
Then you tell them it's good to brush their teeth and give them a choice. The one with a toothbrush can decide to brush his teeth if he chooses to be good… or not, if he chooses to be bad.
But the one without a toothbrush — whether he chooses to be a good child or a bad child — he can't brush his teeth because he has no toothbrush.
Lol, I don't know if you get me.
But that was just the best way for me to express how I feel about literacy.
Literacy is the toothbrush.
It can make for better parents and better neighbours depending on one's choice on whether to be or not.
And being illiterate doesn't necessarily mean one is genuinely bad and can't be better.
So, does being learned mean people will be less inclined to hurt their fellows or even make mistakes that will place everyone else at risk?
Sincerely, I think literates have less tendency to hurt their fellows or even make mistakes that will place everyone else at risk.
But there are other factors that affect the possibilities.
- Education ≠ morality.
- Literates can be stupid, manipulated, and influenced like every other human being.
- Literacy can be used for evil or good.
- Literate ≠ smart
So, literacy is just a small piece of a large puzzle.