#reading is good

[facts-i-just-made-up]

Where are you?

Generally a bookstore or library or at home with what I found.

[brain-rot-central]

If you ever wanted to know how bad the illiteracy crisis in America is, I work with people who are native English speakers, grew up going to public schools in areas that aren't necessarily poor or underfunded and they use AI grammar checkers in order to check how they speak/type on a daily basis.

Now, granted, they could have dyslexia.

I'm definitely some degree of dyslexic, but by exposing yourself to reading and listening to various different audio recordings, you start to develop a sense of "hmm this doesn't sound/look right;" almost like a type of pattern recognition.

I knew from a young age that I had difficulties with reading/writing/speaking. I STILL speak backwards and will often jumble the order of words in a sentence, to the point where I have to stop and restart. It's much easier for me to sound coherent through writing than speaking, and even then I sometimes struggle to get my point across.

My parents didn't want to admit I had a problem, so I took it upon myself to read/write as much as I could. I hated when it was my turn to read a passage from a book out loud during class, but I did my best to go over the passage as long as I could before being picked to read it, that way the words were already familiar in my mouth. If that makes sense.

What my point is though is that we neeeeeed to start encouraging people to read again. If you can't spend time reading because of kids or school or a busy schedule, by God pop on an audiobook and just listen. Not saying that all media should be free, but it really should be a lot easier for people to access books and other works. I think that would really help improve literacy rates nationwide.

I'd love to one day see local libraries have delivery services. Like order a book from your library online and they deliver it with a package slip to send it back through the mail after 2-3 weeks; however long they let you keep a book. If you want an extension maybe they make you pay an extra $1-5, something like that, which would cover the cost of packaging in most cases.

To see people using AI grammar checkers on the daily because they either did not have any help with reading/writing when they were younger or grew up impoverished breaks my heart and should not be the standard going forward.

Popping a sentence into a grammar checker will help you in the short-term, but if you want to get to a point where you never have to rely on such a device in the future, you need to practice that skill. And the only way you're going to do that is by putting the effort in to do so.

Not only does it benefit you by way of being able to convey yourself better, but it also helps keep your brain active. There have been multiple studies done that show people who read/play crosswords puzzles have a lower chance of developing memory loss as they age.

There really is truth in the statement, "you use it or you lose it."

I think this is something important to focus on because in a time where book bans are happening across the nation and there's widespread demonization of higher education, we have to realize that our ability to develop critical thinking skills is directly linked to how often we exercise our brains.

By keeping us illiterate, it becomes easier for oppressive governments to spoon feed us bullshit while no one bats an eye. I like to refer to the days of Medieval England and Europe when only those who had money and status were taught how to read. The Church basically ran everything and would very often spin the truth in their favor knowing the masses were illiterate and uneducated.

That's not something I would like to see in the year 2025, and I don't think most people want to see it, either.

Education is not the problem. Knowledge is truly power, and one of the best ways you can obtain knowledge is by reading.

Even if you struggle and you can't read something beyond Dr. Seuss, start there. Read as much at that level as you can, and slowly work yourself up. Keep challenging yourself.

If you need to write words down so you can look them up later, do it. Write them out in a book or a text note document on your phone with the definition next to them.

Do not let them strip your ability to gather information from you. Do not let them make you believe that to have knowledge or the desire to seek out knowledge is a bad thing.

Reading comprehension is one thing that can save you. You can read between the lines of whatever bullshit is being spun and thrown at you. Do not let them take that from you.

[mymik]

Internet person suggest read book. Doing. Ranger friend Maya have many book!

Internet person mention specific book special. Must read! Have to now. Is on shelf too! Am climb reach book.

[mads-is-a-bit-strange]

just finished radio silence

guess who's going to be unbearable for the next two weeks

[charliebot-art]

Did you know that Optimus Prime is the mascot for this year's library card sign up month (sept) through the American Library Association?

i didnt know that but thats so cute i love this 😭💖 op is such a huge nerd i know hed support this

went to look up the press release if anyone’s interested!

[whatever-local-cryptid]

Fanfic Rec 6 of ?

Robin's Egg by Calix on AO3 I’m back at it agin with the DC/DP crossovers, and this one is GOOD.

Ongoing work, again: sorry, has around 168k+ words and 51 chapters.

I was on the DC/DP crossovers, as usual, with a healthy dose of Angst. When I came to, I was at the end of the fic and wanting more. To be honest the fan art here and there for the fanfiction got me interested.

Fan art for a fanfic tells you that shit is amazing and you must read it NOW.

Not giving away much but Danny is not the main in focus. But the angst part is. There is a healthy dose of happy family to keep you from feeling too sad and good humor/comedy.

It was published July 17th, 2022 last updated pretty recently on October 1st, 2024.

Here’s the link, good luck.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[maryburrowes]

"To be a teacher, one must have:

the Patience of Job,

the Wisdom of Solomon,

and the Courage of David."

~ anonymous