191–200 of 295 posts
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What do those jobs have to do with illiteracy?
You don't need to be literate to do those jobs and so chances are, a lot of people doing those jobs are illiterate.
It’s reasonable to assume that 11% of the adult US population is still illiterate [1]. I know this is not unique to the US, and that these people may very well be as happy as anyone else. Still, if we sometimes point out that HN is a bit of a bubble, well there’s a big bubble I can’t wrap my mind around well into the 21st century! I would certainly be surprised if an illiterate person made heavy use of the Internet (…
For your interest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_illiteracy
My Dad is in his early 70's and has never used the Internet. In fact, he never even had a cellphone until this year when I bought him a flip-phone and convinced him to accept it. I think he's plenty capable of learning such technology, he just doesn't see any compelling reason. And I think that's a perfectly reasonable choice -- I'm certainly not going to tell a senior citizen what they need to be happy. He is starti…
Yet, as amazing as the internet can be, it's still what you make of it. There's users with greatly varying proficiencies with vastly different use cases. Some people just aren't as accustomed to it as others. For us younger folks, it's easier to take something for granted when you've had it basically your entire life. A person who is 50-60 years old (born between 1958-1968) was in their 20s-30s when the internet was becoming mainstream. As someone in their 20s that thinks "wtf are these kids talking about" when a teenage cousin explains the internet culture of "vlogging", I could imagine some of the people back when the internet first came about were like "wtf I can send mails to other people over the telephone wires that's not telegraph and is done by computers" (I'm exaggerating). As you can see by standard adoption curves, there's always a group of last remaining holdouts. Maybe they've gotten by fine in life without adopting and don't feel compelled to bother. As the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". These people carry with them what seems to be a soon-to-be historical lifestyle that's still important to remember.
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What is interesting is that it seems to have more to do with age than intellectual capacity. I know very smart 60yo+ doctors with a lifetime of scientific achievements, who understands concepts way more complicated than the IP protocol or a browser, and who just refuse to learn it. They might learn just how to use it but have no curiosity on how it works.
I know very smart 60yo+ doctors with a lifetime of scientific achievements, who understands concepts way more complicated than the IP protocol or a browser, and who just refuse to learn it. I know a woman who until recently worked as a secretary to one of the presidents of a large regional bank. The first thing she did each morning was to print out the president's e-mails, and bring them to him on paper. He would the…
Here in Finland, practically everyone carries one. From young kids to grown adult men and women. I even saw an old person with one the other day. One can’t carry as much nor is it practical to use briefcases.
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Here in India—guards, drivers and house helps are all on the Internet all day long!
What do those jobs have to do with illiteracy?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You don't need to be literate to do those jobs and so chances are, a lot of people doing those jobs are illiterate.
You don't need to be, so therefore you aren't? Sounds like a fallacy and a generalization.