• LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    2 days ago

    no they fucking don’t

    I would not be surprised if a simple majority of Americans were functionally illiterate at this point. 5 years ago it was over 1/7 in my state actually illiterate and let’s just say I don’t live in the deep south or midwest

    • lib1 [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      2 days ago

      That’s not a matter of capacity though. Most kids are able to learn to read through basic instruction and almost all of the remaining kids can learn through appropriate intervention. This is why literacy is largely a policy decision rather than a matter of aptitude.

      • LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        2 days ago

        i think if you work in a customer facing job for at least five years and walk away thinking “yes these people are all capable phd candidates” there’s something wrong going on in that analysis so hey i guess we’ll just disagree here

        Would i say there’s a significant portion of society that is through various ways made unable to utilize their intelligence i.e. an einstein toiling in the fields because they got bills and shit to deal with? sure but id have to not believe my lying eyes to extend that to “most” people

        • lib1 [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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          2 days ago

          That’s fair. I wouldn’t go as far as saying everyone could be a phd candidate. For one thing, I think that’s a skill set that goes beyond intellectual aptitude and not everyone has the necessary temperament and set of tertiary skills. There’s also a big difference between what could have been if everyone had been educated properly from birth vs where people are at after decades of neglect and trauma and atrophy. That shit literally causes brain damage.