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Functional Illiteracy: a Widespread Problem

September 23, 2024

Society

ignorance, misunderstanding, reading, society, writing

Many (most?) people consider illiteracy – the inability to read – a binary problem: Either you can read or you can’t, they think. However, there is a far more insidious issue that passes largely unnoticed in modern societies. That is functional illiteracy, or the inability to read beyond a superficial level.

To give a somewhat simple example (I’ll show you more structured cases in this post), someone who is functionally illiterate may be able to read a basic headline and a blurb conveying the simple description of a traffic accident, but will not understand the piece itself that, say, analyzes the problematic design of the traffic junction or the political aspects of lack of funds etc.

Of course, the reason that functional illiteracy passes unnoticed is a sort of Dunning-Kruger phenomenon: People who can’t read complex texts – and only seek simple answers – are very unlikely to be aware of their own shortcomings. This creates a dangerously volatile mix with unpredictable consequences.

functional illiteracy - image of old book
In older times literacy was more of a black/white phenomenon: Either you could read or not. This might have been illusory, but at the same time the presence of vast numbers of the population who were entirely illiterate made functional illiteracy less visible. Today, the situation is far different
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Mass Tourism Needs to Die

September 16, 2024

Society

capitalism, ignorance, social masses, social media, society

Greece has many beautiful places, and though I’m Greek and I spent the first 20 or so years of my life there, I of course haven’t visited its every corner. I recently spent a few days on Crete, and let me tell you, it was an eye-opening experience. Mass tourism needs to die, yesterday!

You might have recently seen how Spanish citizens in Malaga and other places have protested mass tourism. If you live in any remotely touristy location – let alone a place like Rome, Paris, or Venice – you surely know first-hand how damaging mass tourism can be.

I was so affected by my own experiences – which I’ll talk about more in a while – that I decided to write this post. I was always against mass tourism, but now I am absolutely adamant: Mass tourism must die!

mass tourism needs to die. image of tourists in Louvre
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The Creative Lifestyle: Building Good Habits

September 2, 2024

Writing

creativity, society, writing

On a practical level, a lifestyle is a way of life, a set of habits and actions that guide one’s routine. Obviously, there are many methodological and even moral consequences. For example, a vegetarian lifestyle influences one’s choices of, say, food shopping, as well as their way of thinking about animals. Similarly, a creative lifestyle affects a person’s way of dealing – as well as thinking about – creative expressions.

Ultimately, a creative lifestyle is about building good habits: supporting a way of life that makes it easier to experience, find connections, and express them artistically.

I got inspiration for this post after I realized I’ve drawn more than 500 (at the time I write this text) Punning Walrus episodes in less than a year – starting basically from zero drawing skills. That means, on average, more than one per day. Some days I drew five or six, some days I didn’t draw any. This, too, is important as we’ll see.

Indeed, a creative lifestyle isn’t about being creative “no matter what”. Rather, it’s about including creativity as an integral part of your identity, resulting in creativity becoming not something you do but something you are.

creative lifestyle. image of a man running
As every runner will tell you, once you get into the mindset of running – once it becomes a lifestyle – you don’t see it as something you do; you see it as something you are. A creative lifestyle is no different.
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