I am a bit biased as an English/Language Arts teacher and a writer. I have spent the better part of my life trying to get kids interested in reading a variety of things. It is a struggle. Think of all the imagination that reading necessitates that is being wasted.
You said the key term: imagination. Perhaps the key is to help small children keep and mature their imaginations as they're learning to read. The reading and imagination provide fuel for each other. I wonder if government-model school destroys too much imagination, which leaves little for creative reading and writing to work with.
I think you and Pope Francis just hit on a similar point as it relates to reading in government school and probably most schools. Requiring folks to read certain things is a sure way to stifle the desire to read other things that may be interesting. There is little room for folks, like myself, to just encourage reading of anything that is of student interest. It doesn't align with the purpose of government schools.
I hope seminaries figure that much out and encourage a lot of literature circles.
I haven’t noveled up recently, but tapped into a mini series on a recent ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read- A Gentleman in Moscow.
I’ve been reminded from the first 3 episodes how much I miss literature.
A thing that is challenging in literature in an undeveloped mind is the normalization of the negative behaviors included. A developed reader can read and decide and discuss such things.
That being said, there is only one path to be a developed reader, and that is to read and best yet, to discuss the book!
Literature is a great gift of life on the planet. Maybe Francis writes about it bc it has been ignored.
I also lavish books on tape. Such a fabulous way to conquer a long ride in a car! And I believe they have a same effect on the mind as reading from a good smelling book! 📚
Consent is generally working from the inside out. To consent is to start with a developed conscience and sufficient knowledge to then agree to an action. Conform is generally working from the outside in. To conform is to start with the seeking of external validation and then internalizing what was imposed from outside.
There can be some overlap between the direction, since we often exist in a two-way exchange of information with the world and other people. But conforming could also be the product of coercion or even direct infliction of harm, forces that override consent.
The full "litany" of neighbor-citizen contrasts in my book is as follows:
"""
Jesus preaches and models what it means to be a good neighbor. He is also frequently considered a bad citizen. There is no escaping this tension. Being a good neighbor requires a different mindset and value system than being a good citizen. They often conflict.
Good neighbors treat each other as peers. Good citizens treat each other according to official status.
Good neighbors seek the personal, intimate betterment of themselves and each other. Good citizens seek the external validation of an impersonal system.
Good neighbors align to voluntary, open-ended interactions. Good citizens align to coercive civil authority and imposed, hierarchical social order.
Good neighbors “insource” their ethics; charity and friendship are the key virtues of their relationships. Good citizens “outsource” their ethics; compliance with the commands of rulers and enforcers is a fundamental and necessary aspect (some might call it a “civic virtue”).
Novels are a double edged sword, they do effect our morality and it can be good or bad or a little of both, depending on the author. Take something like Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". Great book and on the one hand it tells us to take better care of one another, that's nice, but on the other hand it pushed collectivism, which is an evil.
I'd say that there is little doubt that novels can play a large roll in forming our morality, whether that roll is healthy or not depends entirely on the Author.
Yes, we have some say, but I like to think I'm not the average reader. Even so I didn't skillfully parse it at the time I read it in high-school, I was lucky enough to have Milton Friedman teach a summer course at college, without his influence I think it could have gone either way.
What If I'd gone to a left leaning college, instead of a private business college, would that novel's influence ever have worn off?
Who knows, I doubt I'd ever make a good Marxist but the again, I'm not positive of that even. Life also taught me to be skeptical of unions, I belonged to two of them, both were a disaster and neither business is still around. (Our local hospital and one of the biggest factories in this area.)
It took both additional knowledge and life experience for me to see through those lies.
> It took both additional knowledge and life experience for me to see through those lies.
Yes! The point of reading isn't to make yourself a blank slate upon which the book's author writes. Reading narratives helps you gain perspective, but how useful that perspective is will involve your critical reading/thinking skills. I don't think Pope Francis' letter advises abandoning reality in favor of fiction. I definitely don't :-)
I am a bit biased as an English/Language Arts teacher and a writer. I have spent the better part of my life trying to get kids interested in reading a variety of things. It is a struggle. Think of all the imagination that reading necessitates that is being wasted.
Readers are leaders.
You said the key term: imagination. Perhaps the key is to help small children keep and mature their imaginations as they're learning to read. The reading and imagination provide fuel for each other. I wonder if government-model school destroys too much imagination, which leaves little for creative reading and writing to work with.
I think you and Pope Francis just hit on a similar point as it relates to reading in government school and probably most schools. Requiring folks to read certain things is a sure way to stifle the desire to read other things that may be interesting. There is little room for folks, like myself, to just encourage reading of anything that is of student interest. It doesn't align with the purpose of government schools.
I hope seminaries figure that much out and encourage a lot of literature circles.
I haven’t noveled up recently, but tapped into a mini series on a recent ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read- A Gentleman in Moscow.
I’ve been reminded from the first 3 episodes how much I miss literature.
A thing that is challenging in literature in an undeveloped mind is the normalization of the negative behaviors included. A developed reader can read and decide and discuss such things.
That being said, there is only one path to be a developed reader, and that is to read and best yet, to discuss the book!
Literature is a great gift of life on the planet. Maybe Francis writes about it bc it has been ignored.
I also lavish books on tape. Such a fabulous way to conquer a long ride in a car! And I believe they have a same effect on the mind as reading from a good smelling book! 📚
Yes, reading comprehension is a skill that must be developed. Incremental gains are the key to maturity.
I've done a few audiobooks, too! They're basically extremely long podcasts :-D
I like this. Thanks.
i like the “good neighbours consent and good citizens conform” but i see it that conforming is still a form of consent?
Consent is generally working from the inside out. To consent is to start with a developed conscience and sufficient knowledge to then agree to an action. Conform is generally working from the outside in. To conform is to start with the seeking of external validation and then internalizing what was imposed from outside.
There can be some overlap between the direction, since we often exist in a two-way exchange of information with the world and other people. But conforming could also be the product of coercion or even direct infliction of harm, forces that override consent.
The full "litany" of neighbor-citizen contrasts in my book is as follows:
"""
Jesus preaches and models what it means to be a good neighbor. He is also frequently considered a bad citizen. There is no escaping this tension. Being a good neighbor requires a different mindset and value system than being a good citizen. They often conflict.
Good neighbors treat each other as peers. Good citizens treat each other according to official status.
Good neighbors seek the personal, intimate betterment of themselves and each other. Good citizens seek the external validation of an impersonal system.
Good neighbors align to voluntary, open-ended interactions. Good citizens align to coercive civil authority and imposed, hierarchical social order.
Good neighbors “insource” their ethics; charity and friendship are the key virtues of their relationships. Good citizens “outsource” their ethics; compliance with the commands of rulers and enforcers is a fundamental and necessary aspect (some might call it a “civic virtue”).
Good neighbors consent. Good citizens conform.
"""
Appreciate this. Thank you.
Novels are a double edged sword, they do effect our morality and it can be good or bad or a little of both, depending on the author. Take something like Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". Great book and on the one hand it tells us to take better care of one another, that's nice, but on the other hand it pushed collectivism, which is an evil.
I'd say that there is little doubt that novels can play a large roll in forming our morality, whether that roll is healthy or not depends entirely on the Author.
> . . . depends entirely on the Author.
I'd say the reader has some say in the matter, too. You seem to have skillfully parsed 'The Jungle," for example 🤔
Yes, we have some say, but I like to think I'm not the average reader. Even so I didn't skillfully parse it at the time I read it in high-school, I was lucky enough to have Milton Friedman teach a summer course at college, without his influence I think it could have gone either way.
What If I'd gone to a left leaning college, instead of a private business college, would that novel's influence ever have worn off?
Who knows, I doubt I'd ever make a good Marxist but the again, I'm not positive of that even. Life also taught me to be skeptical of unions, I belonged to two of them, both were a disaster and neither business is still around. (Our local hospital and one of the biggest factories in this area.)
It took both additional knowledge and life experience for me to see through those lies.
> It took both additional knowledge and life experience for me to see through those lies.
Yes! The point of reading isn't to make yourself a blank slate upon which the book's author writes. Reading narratives helps you gain perspective, but how useful that perspective is will involve your critical reading/thinking skills. I don't think Pope Francis' letter advises abandoning reality in favor of fiction. I definitely don't :-)