VCRs and Digital Hermitages

A few things today, or rather tonight (it's the early hours of the morning). Firstly I'm wondering if texting is making this generation more literate. I have a pet theory that states that widespread literacy is the product of technology not teaching. Or in effect that the advent of the printing press gave rise to the mass availability of literature. Which in turn led people to take it upon themselves to learn how to read (usually in an organic or informal way) in order to enjoy and consume these newly available products.

I've compared it to learning how to use a mobile phone or VCR. Things that can be quite complicated to use for those unfamiliar, but which people nevertheless pick up quite naturally without the need for formal lessons. They want the benefits of this technology so they learn organically as they do whatever it is they want to do with it. Be it messaging someone, watching a movie, playing a video game, etc.

(VCR is quite an old reference isn't it 😄 It's such a natural one to reach for though as growing up it was so common to see older people struggle with the things.)

Anyway, I've been messaging friends and family members much more during the lock down. One of my nephews isn't the most enthusiastic about school. He seems to take pride in getting into mischief. I was a little worried about his education. However, I've noticed his grammar is fairly decent in his messaging - minus the text speak and acronyms. No different to many of the adults I message in fact 😅

Things like texting tend to get a bad rap, but I'm thinking that perhaps they actually help. Off the top of my head I can't think of any major aspect of my non-school life as a child that involved a lot of written communication. Computer games not so much. TV zero. Sports nada. You tended to communicate with your friends in person. With messaging though you are actually communicating with the written word and constructing sentences. So I do wonder. It would be interesting to see what impact things like mobile phones have in places where literacy is generally low, like parts of Africa.

The second thing..

The second thing I was going to mention is I guess slightly related. Earlier I was thinking about how people are self-isolating and it reminded me of hermitages. People secluding themselves away from other people. It's all very medieval. I jokingly mentioned on Twitter that perhaps everyone should have the right to their own little hermitage. That way they can isolate themselves from everyone else, for years if need be, then they'll have no excuse for demanding that others do the same.

"...but you don't need to lock other people up, you have the option of a hermitage. You can self-isolate there for as long as you wish. We'll welcome you back into society when you feel ready."

Of course, I'm joking, but we are in uncharted waters at the moment. I'm beginning to feel like a hermit myself. Such behaviour changes can't not have some impact on the mindset of society you'd think. There'll surely have to be some kind of spiritual lilt to it all as well.

As above though, in today's hermitages we're also communicating with people digitally. So that changes the dynamic a bit. We now have digital hermitages I suppose.

On a further note, though I'll finish it here, I'm also thinking this could tie in with the idea of living space rights. The digital hermitage, the pod, the home.