I am trying to write as often as possible, for I understand it is a skill one can acquire through hard work and dedication. The simple thought of communicating ideas effectively and coherently is the greatest incentive. You can call me nostalgic or even dreamer, but one thing I am sure of: this new generations cannot communicate either orally or in writing. The arrival of new technologies was some sort of panacea, but we all know it is only a mirage that keeps fading away to truly unveil a reality we all despise. The amount of information we come across on the Internet is without a doubt overwhelming, and yet to find reliable information has become a quest in itself. Some people think that Wikipedia is some sort of guardian of the truth. I missed the old days when chief editors double checked all the information that had to be printed either in magazines or newspapers considering that these media had to be printed and distributed either locally or nationwide.
The joy of reading magazines like national geographic or a newspaper like the New York Times was an experience in itself, but now every publication is digital, and I must say it is convenient and good for the environment. That is something I cannot argue with.
However, it is perhaps the immediateness of putting things online that has driven us to the situation we are now. The kind of mistakes I run into is just embarrassing. Everybody is an expert on some unknown field, and of course, he or she is blogging and giving advice. The voice of those whose irrational thinking and ideas never left the closed premises of a local bar is now acknowledged worldwide.
We have reporters in every corner of our planet ready to use their cell phones cameras and shoot videos to be later on uploaded to the Internet, but such footage is never put into context; therefore, misinforming has become part of our lives and no one seems to care. It is crucial to inform audiences as events unfold, but that entails telling a story to put things in perspective. The video culture has completely taken over our lives. We have become lazy and victims of this information society that constantly feed us information to in the end sell something we never thought we needed it.
When people read and write something magical happens because they are not easily manipulated. While attending university in the United States I remember students, whose assignments were rejected because they had grammatical errors. Nowadays, the only thing you need to pass is to keep a body temperature of 96.8º . The standard is so low that all students pass; suddenly there are no losers but second and third winners and so forth. So, kids go through their lives without understanding what losing is all about only to hit a wall when they are fired from their jobs because they thought that life just like school was going to be honky dory.
The most important aspect of learning any language is writing, and it is indeed the most neglected area of any language because it does require a lot of work and dedication on behalf of teachers. We all want to live in a better, fairer world, but it is not going to happen unless we teach our new generations critical thinking. And that can only happen when our citizens are informed and have the necessary writing skills to communicate their ideas, but most important of all is to truly understand the ocean of bullshit we are swimming in.
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