Today I Learned

Goes a bit farther than that. I have a family friend who struggles to read the menus at restaurants. But she's also desperately poor, a high school drop out, and regularly between jobs in a service sector that's totally unforgiving to people in her position.

I do think there's a reinforcing cycle of "Everything is written at the 6th grade level" -> "Everyone communicates at the 6th grade level". But I also don't think these articles do a good job of defining the difference between a 4th grade, 8th grade, 12th grade, collegiate level. So when you see this statistic, its not entirely clear what the problem is, per say. Like, what isn't being communicated beyond 6th grade literacy levels that people need?

Per the article:

Here’s the ugly truth nobody wants to admit: a barely literate population is a controllable population.

Can’t read complex policy documents? Perfect. You’ll vote based on slogans and fear. Can’t analyze contradictory news sources? Excellent. You’ll believe whatever authority figure shouts loudest. Can’t understand financial fine print? Outstanding. You’ll sign predatory loans and carry crippling debt forever.

...

Mental health outcomes are catastrophic. Depression rates have skyrocketed. Anxiety disorders are endemic. Suicide rates have surged, particularly among young people who inherit this deteriorating nightmare and see no viable future.

...

The economic cost of illiteracy alone is staggering — research shows that raising every American adult to sixth-grade reading level would generate an additional $2.2 trillion annually.

Few citations, lots of big claims and speculative statements, the tendency to catastrophize (and inject implicit nostalgia) as though 6th grade literacy trends are a shocking new development rather than the historical baseline.

None of it really translates into actionable policy. All it seems to do is feed the prevailing Everyone is Stupid Except Me self-aggrandizing outlook. I tend to see these articles paired with the inevitable reactionary "We should impose literacy tests on voting" and "Would have this problem if not for all the damned rednecks / illegals / minorities / " outlooks.

The rest of the world isn't much better to be honest. 6th grade reading level isn't even that bad. The amount of people who can't read at all is more worrying

It can take a bit of motivation to get started, but reading books can be so fun and worthwhile (with the right books for you). I read a lot of books until I had a kid, then I didn't have the time or energy to keep it up. Just recently I suffered a back injury that keeps me in bed a lot of the time, which forced downtime on me, and so I started reading again.

I wouldn't recommend the back injury, but I've so much enjoyed embracing books once more. Like you, I'm 38 and felt like my literacy was declining. Now I feel like a lot of it's coming back! If you can, you should try to resume reading.

Feel like I need brain training.

That's just called "practice". And I'll say its easier to find when its already part of your day to day job activities. If you're reading and writing with other collegiate professionals at a collegiate level, you'll maintain your skills. Otherwise, you tend to sink to the common denominator.

I don't even think that's bad per say, either. I wouldn't expect a college athlete to maintain the skills of a 25 year old who trains 4 hours a day if they took up a desk job for ten years. The fixation on having Genius Level Skills at everything overlooks the cost-benefit of maintaining those skills when you have nothing to apply them to.

The idea that the US population would somehow be better off if everyone read at a 12th grade level really begs the question "What are you doing with 12th grade reading/writing skills that would improve your life?" And none of these articles seem to have an answer to that question. It's just intrinsically better because 12 > 6.

Would your life be better if you could bench press 400 lbs rather than 200 lbs? Would it be better if you could do trigonometry in your head? Recite the Hamlet soliloquy by heart in the original Ye Olde English? I guess, maybe on the margins. But Idk how much of my life I can spare to achieve any one of these. And I don't know if what I'd give up to achieve them would be better on balance.

agreed.

you should read more physical books and less online commentary.

you have two vocabularies, active and passive. passive vocabulary is trained on daily interactions. active vocabulary comprises of long-term language you have learned over your lifetime. usually activated while you are reading.

if you read social commentary daily and it's written by people who have a 6th grade vocabulary, you're atrophying not just your passive but active vocabularies.

give it a shot for a month, you'll see an improvement.

Thats LITERALLY what police in my area were advertising 10 years ago for a hiring event.

They had fliers for a big hiring event that said "High school diploma not required. Dropouts encouraged to apply"

I remember seeing it and saying "Well this can only end well." in a very sarcastic tone.

no worry u smrt man

listening to harry potter audio books isn't going to make anyone more literate.

becoming more literate would require listening to audio books that challenge one cognitively.

most readers aren't doing that. they mostly read crap that is easy and re-enforces their existing viewpoints.

just look at best seller lists in audio book or paper book. lots of crap.

Now who benefits from a poorly educated populace?

The boomers are aging and lead poisoned. Education system is spotty. Poor areas have less tax revenue, leading to worse schools, and that creates a cycle.

People are addicted to social media and it's literally rotting their brains. 15 second video clips with the same background audio playing in a loop.

I think it is a lot of things happening concurrently.