Misconception #90: Literacy is the most important lesson to learn

Literacy is definitely important. I would love it if everybody learned how to read and write. I certainly don't want to diminish the value of such an important skill too much, but the truth is that we need to stop treating literacy as the world's most important ability.


If I had to choose between working with an illiterate genius or a literate imbecile, I wouldn't hesitate to pick the genius. Personally, I value mental ability far more than I value the ability to read and write. Again, I value literacy. The issue here is that there is something even more important that we tend to neglect.

The schools love to point out literacy stats. These stats consistently rely on establishing correlation without establishing cause. Disproving these stats is beyond the scope of this post, but I wanted to at least mention that there are obvious reasons that these stats shouldn't be trusted. I also wanted to bring up a definitively flawed cliché loved by teachers. If you can read this, thank your teachers.

The impact that the schools have on literacy has never actually been established. At the very least, it should be obvious that literacy would exist without the schools. Teachers erroneously insist that they should necessarily be credited every time someone learns to read and write. What is frequently overlooked is that the mindless repetition of the absurd cliché points to a lack of thought.

We don't know the impact that schooling has on literacy. When it comes to thought, all evidence points to the schools causing harm. I saw a lot of observational evidence when I was a student. During my mindless years, I received good grades. I let my teachers tell me what to think, and I had no problems giving them the answers that they wanted. Once I started thinking for myself, I no longer thought what my teachers demanded. My grades plummeted.

The do they/don't they arguments about the impact schooling has on literacy is overshadowing a far greater issue, the definitive harm to the ability to think. In order to succeed in school, you must sacrifice your mental process. You must allow your teachers to tell you what to think. Even if you could establish that the schools are beneficial in regards to literacy, it's not worth it. The harm to the ability to think is far more substantial.