You encapsulate the madness that is rapidly spreading here in the US in this one quote, Irina:
"“Many years ago someone told me something that I flatly refused to accept. And I still don't accept it now, despite all the times I've seen it proved right."
We are now being told that one can have "Their Own Truth", (See Transgenderism), and that history is merely a "telling", and that different author's/narrator's "Tellings" must be accepted as fact. (See "The 1619 Project").
Objective truth is an extinct species in my country, and I fear that in no more than 2 generations we won't have anyone left with the smarts to keep the lights on and the machines running.
Prior to my current job, which leaves no time for it, I pursued fiction writing. Through a different medium than journalism, I wanted to explore themes about civilization, energy and prosperity -- and how a privileged life in a wealthy society creates an opportunity for a vain outrage at your own privilege, which is projected onto society.
I didn't want the story to be a platform to advance my own political ideas. It's about finding meaning and purpose in life when you've moved well beyond satisfying basic needs. (A lot of Maslow's Pyramid themes were woven into the narrative.) So, the protagonist is an environmentalist who is placed in a scenario where civilization collapses, and she falls back to the bottom on the pyramid. That challenged me as a writer to make a relatable character whose politics I disagreed with and do so with sympathy and understanding. It's a great writing exercise to imagine your political opponents as humans with qualities that others can relate to., and then weave them into a sympathetic narrative.
Of course, in the woke, progressive crowd, they never engage in that kind of exercise. They demonize those with whom they disagree and view them as possessing no redeeming qualities. That's why their movies, literature and comedy are just terrible.
I have been a voracious reader since age 6 as well. As a child, the books I read grabbed me, took me with them and made me feel as if I was right there living the story along with the characters. A few of my favorites include The Black Stallion, Heidi, Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prarie, The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia series. None of these books tried to indoctrinate me, instead they made me think critically, have an imagination, and mainly just get lost in a wonderful story. And they made me want to read more and more and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't read for pleasure for at least an hour.
So much youth and young adult fiction is simply leftist indoctrination, and none of it positive. While I agree many books are making people stupider, not quite as much as video games, snap chat and tik-tok. I believe this is the point, the powers that be don't want critical thinkers, the want us all to be prolls. Which is why we must keep reading books, and substack's (such as your's Irina) that will enlighten us and not just give us knowledge, but also inspiration to stop this madness and make real, positive change. For us and our children.
“One day, you will be old enough to start reading fairytales again.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia
The dumbing down of the Gen Pop has been going on for decades now. Just wait for AI to kick into full gear! I believe some of the authors/books you refer to have already deployed AI in their undertakings.
I love fiction, mostly sci-fi. What draws me in are the characters, their flaws and the environment. What keeps me reading is the basic human pursuit of love, purpose, and redemption. Lately I have bought books, started them and discarded each one because of what you describe. Besides the classic Sci-fi/Fantasy that everyone loves, Cloud Atlas really sticks with me for the very reason great literature never gets old. A more recent version along a similar vein, (though it had a rushed ending), is Cloud Cuckoo Land. Otherwise the recent offerings in Fantasy have been Meh. As a mother of a 2 Millennials and a Generation Z daughter, I am learning about subjective truth from ones "lived experience". This explains why Tik Tok is considered a medium to learn new things by the younger generation, Everything is from an individuals point of view and how they perceive the experience as truth. Not sure I get it as an old fashion thinker who likes to think about objective truth. Go figure.
Perfect assessment of the current aims of "literacy". I'm a writer and lifetime reader of everything. What kids are reading today is worthless artistically and downright sinister in intent. Adults also consume trashy stories by the truckload, along with even larger deliveries of garbage TV. It's too late to stop it, IMO. We can only prepare for the outcomes.
On the slightly bright side, I suspect that smart kids will come to resent being lectured every time they open a book or watch a movie. They will be bored with having to wade through a character's "lived experience" in lieu of a colorful adventure or spooky mystery. Maybe tiresomeness will be crushed under its own weight.
Here's my suggestion. Since the books are in English and the translations are in Bulgarian, who's to know if the translation is an improvement rather than a faithful mapping. If it was me, and I thank God it isn't, I would just write my own YA novel loosely based on the characters in the book and relating somehow to the illustrations but having the cultural and philosophical messages that I felt in my own heart were most appropriate. Seriously, what could happen?
I couldn't agree with you more - great article. We have been dumbing down now for some time, watched it coming over the last 40 or so years (you can see so much when you get old!) - still wondering where the wonder really is for kids anymore - no imagination left! So sad. Without that where is the joy now? When you are spoon fed your visual, auditory and tactile stimuli everyday you really don't have to do much. So now we (people in general) have become extremely lazy! I also wonder how many kids read anymore unless it's required?
Excellent articulation of a phenomenon I had only noticed in passing (I don't read lowbrow literature). Thank you for being a historian of our age of insanity.
“A bad author would force the message down the readers’ throat.” This is happening in TV and movies too and is a real reason why it’s so hard to find something worth watching.
Ray Bradbury saw this coming.
You encapsulate the madness that is rapidly spreading here in the US in this one quote, Irina:
"“Many years ago someone told me something that I flatly refused to accept. And I still don't accept it now, despite all the times I've seen it proved right."
We are now being told that one can have "Their Own Truth", (See Transgenderism), and that history is merely a "telling", and that different author's/narrator's "Tellings" must be accepted as fact. (See "The 1619 Project").
Objective truth is an extinct species in my country, and I fear that in no more than 2 generations we won't have anyone left with the smarts to keep the lights on and the machines running.
Prior to my current job, which leaves no time for it, I pursued fiction writing. Through a different medium than journalism, I wanted to explore themes about civilization, energy and prosperity -- and how a privileged life in a wealthy society creates an opportunity for a vain outrage at your own privilege, which is projected onto society.
I didn't want the story to be a platform to advance my own political ideas. It's about finding meaning and purpose in life when you've moved well beyond satisfying basic needs. (A lot of Maslow's Pyramid themes were woven into the narrative.) So, the protagonist is an environmentalist who is placed in a scenario where civilization collapses, and she falls back to the bottom on the pyramid. That challenged me as a writer to make a relatable character whose politics I disagreed with and do so with sympathy and understanding. It's a great writing exercise to imagine your political opponents as humans with qualities that others can relate to., and then weave them into a sympathetic narrative.
Of course, in the woke, progressive crowd, they never engage in that kind of exercise. They demonize those with whom they disagree and view them as possessing no redeeming qualities. That's why their movies, literature and comedy are just terrible.
I have been a voracious reader since age 6 as well. As a child, the books I read grabbed me, took me with them and made me feel as if I was right there living the story along with the characters. A few of my favorites include The Black Stallion, Heidi, Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prarie, The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia series. None of these books tried to indoctrinate me, instead they made me think critically, have an imagination, and mainly just get lost in a wonderful story. And they made me want to read more and more and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't read for pleasure for at least an hour.
So much youth and young adult fiction is simply leftist indoctrination, and none of it positive. While I agree many books are making people stupider, not quite as much as video games, snap chat and tik-tok. I believe this is the point, the powers that be don't want critical thinkers, the want us all to be prolls. Which is why we must keep reading books, and substack's (such as your's Irina) that will enlighten us and not just give us knowledge, but also inspiration to stop this madness and make real, positive change. For us and our children.
“One day, you will be old enough to start reading fairytales again.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia
The dumbing down of the Gen Pop has been going on for decades now. Just wait for AI to kick into full gear! I believe some of the authors/books you refer to have already deployed AI in their undertakings.
I love fiction, mostly sci-fi. What draws me in are the characters, their flaws and the environment. What keeps me reading is the basic human pursuit of love, purpose, and redemption. Lately I have bought books, started them and discarded each one because of what you describe. Besides the classic Sci-fi/Fantasy that everyone loves, Cloud Atlas really sticks with me for the very reason great literature never gets old. A more recent version along a similar vein, (though it had a rushed ending), is Cloud Cuckoo Land. Otherwise the recent offerings in Fantasy have been Meh. As a mother of a 2 Millennials and a Generation Z daughter, I am learning about subjective truth from ones "lived experience". This explains why Tik Tok is considered a medium to learn new things by the younger generation, Everything is from an individuals point of view and how they perceive the experience as truth. Not sure I get it as an old fashion thinker who likes to think about objective truth. Go figure.
Perfect assessment of the current aims of "literacy". I'm a writer and lifetime reader of everything. What kids are reading today is worthless artistically and downright sinister in intent. Adults also consume trashy stories by the truckload, along with even larger deliveries of garbage TV. It's too late to stop it, IMO. We can only prepare for the outcomes.
On the slightly bright side, I suspect that smart kids will come to resent being lectured every time they open a book or watch a movie. They will be bored with having to wade through a character's "lived experience" in lieu of a colorful adventure or spooky mystery. Maybe tiresomeness will be crushed under its own weight.
Here's my suggestion. Since the books are in English and the translations are in Bulgarian, who's to know if the translation is an improvement rather than a faithful mapping. If it was me, and I thank God it isn't, I would just write my own YA novel loosely based on the characters in the book and relating somehow to the illustrations but having the cultural and philosophical messages that I felt in my own heart were most appropriate. Seriously, what could happen?
It's for the children.
I couldn't agree with you more - great article. We have been dumbing down now for some time, watched it coming over the last 40 or so years (you can see so much when you get old!) - still wondering where the wonder really is for kids anymore - no imagination left! So sad. Without that where is the joy now? When you are spoon fed your visual, auditory and tactile stimuli everyday you really don't have to do much. So now we (people in general) have become extremely lazy! I also wonder how many kids read anymore unless it's required?
Thank you. Brilliant and spot-on.
Just as the Bible does (especially the Complete Jewish Bible), your article made me think.
“I’ve always read voraciously, insatiably, and greedily, even before I was taught how to read critically (and that adverbs should be used sparingly).”
I hope everyone caught your very subtle play on words there!! Nice!
Critical thinking was not allowed in 1984 and os not allowed in 2023. Groupthink is all that can safely be allowed by the ones in control.
Naw, YA will find better writing. There's an endless market.
BTW, here's great writing that works with our energy fantasies: "Tell me everything I wanna hear
Anything but the truth" Samantha Fish "Money To Burn"
Excellent articulation of a phenomenon I had only noticed in passing (I don't read lowbrow literature). Thank you for being a historian of our age of insanity.
It's becoming more insidious every day. Thank you for peeling another layer of another rotten onion.
“A bad author would force the message down the readers’ throat.” This is happening in TV and movies too and is a real reason why it’s so hard to find something worth watching.
https://open.substack.com/pub/hoisttheblackflag/p/tell-me-a-story?r=26wsm2&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post