{"id":1320,"date":"2009-01-22T15:11:38","date_gmt":"2009-01-22T22:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2009\/01\/contradicting-rich\/"},"modified":"2009-01-22T15:11:38","modified_gmt":"2009-01-22T22:11:38","slug":"contradicting-rich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/2009\/01\/22\/contradicting-rich\/","title":{"rendered":"Contradicting Rich"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-style: italic\" class=\"Apple-style-span\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/technology\/2009\/jan\/20\/internet-homer\" target=\"_blank\">from The Guardian UK<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h1>How the web is undermining reading<\/h1>\n<h2>From Plato to Guitar Hero, we have always been wary of change &#8211; but the internet poses a serious threat to society&#8217;s ability to read<\/h2>\n<ul style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; list-style-type: none; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; font-size: 0.86em; line-height: 1.25; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 12px; position: relative; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; min-height: 58px; border-color: #d61d00\" class=\"article-attributes\">\n<li style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; font-weight: normal; border-color: #999999; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/profile\/naomialderman\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.guim.co.uk\/sys-images\/Guardian\/Pix\/pictures\/2008\/10\/06\/ALDERMAN.jpg\" style=\"margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 2px; border-style: none; padding: 0px\" title=\"Contributor picture\" alt=\"Naomi alderman\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" class=\"contributor-pic-small\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: absolute; left: 70px; top: 5px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; font-weight: normal; border-color: #999999; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\" id=\"contrib-shift\">\n<ul style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; list-style-type: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; margin: 0px\">\n<li style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; font-weight: normal; display: block; border-color: #999999; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\" class=\"byline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/profile\/naomialderman\" title=\"&amp;lid={contentTypeByline}{Naomi Alderman}&amp;lpos={contentTypeByline}{1}\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\" name=\"&amp;lid={contentTypeByline}{Naomi Alderman}&amp;lpos={contentTypeByline}{1}\">Naomi Alderman<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; font-weight: normal; border-color: #999999; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\" class=\"publication\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/\" title=\"&amp;lid={contentTypeByline}{guardian.co.uk}&amp;lpos={contentTypeByline}{2}\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\" name=\"&amp;lid={contentTypeByline}{guardian.co.uk}&amp;lpos={contentTypeByline}{2}\">guardian.co.uk<\/a>, Tuesday 20 January 2009 12.00 GMT<\/li>\n<li style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; font-weight: normal; display: block; border-color: #999999; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\" class=\"history\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/technology\/2009\/jan\/20\/internet-homer#history-byline\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\" classname=\"rollover historylink\" id=\"historylink-byline\" class=\"rollover historylink\">Article history<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\" id=\"article-wrapper\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\" class=\"image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.guim.co.uk\/sys-images\/Technology\/Pix\/pictures\/2009\/1\/20\/1232450828481\/Homer-001.jpg\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\" alt=\"Homer\" height=\"276\" width=\"460\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: #666666; margin-bottom: 13px; font-size: 0.857em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.25; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px\" class=\"caption\">Rembrandt&#8217;s Aristotle with the Bust of Homer. Photograph: Corbis<\/p>\n<p>For as long as humans have been developing new technology, we&#8217;ve been worrying that our inventions will cause our brains to decay.<\/p>\n<p>Even the development of writing was seen as a threat to the memory skills that enabled ancient poems to be passed from teller to teller &#8211;<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Homeric_Question#Homer_as_the_manifestation_of_an_oral_tradition\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">many scholars believe\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/books\/homer\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">Homer<\/a>&#8216;s epics weren&#8217;t written by a single man, but were the product of a long tradition of oral poetry.\u00a0Arguably civilisation gained something better in exchange, but there were still those who bemoaned the loss of the memory skills of the oral culture; in Mary Renault&#8217;s novel\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Praise_Singer\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">The Praise Singer<\/a>, master-memoriser\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Simonides_of_Ceos\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">Simonides\u00a0<\/a>worries that his student&#8217;s memory will become hazy because he is writing things down.<\/p>\n<p>There are some signs that we may be approaching a similar cultural moment, although perhaps with fewer reasons to be cheerful.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/arts\/critics\/atlarge\/2007\/12\/24\/071224crat_atlarge_crain\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">Reading has been on the decline for the past half-century<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; largely, it seems, because television has replaced reading in our leisure time. I love television: even with the slew of boring reality shows currently broadcast, TV still offers some\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.channel4.com\/video\/brandless-catchup.jsp?vodBrand=the-devils-whore\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">very<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/drama\/criminaljustice\/\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">enriching<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Wire_(TV_series)\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">cultural<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/doctorwho\/s4\/episodes\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">experiences<\/a>. But the loss of reading &#8211; that is, not purely literacy but reading for pleasure &#8211; could have wide cultural implications. Reading brings with it\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/books\/booksblog\/2007\/jun\/07\/doesreadingmatteryoubetit\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">a host of other skills and benefits<\/a>, the loss of which would leave our society poorer, including\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/mssv.net\/2008\/12\/28\/the-long-decline-of-reading\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">the ability to absorb information quickly<\/a>, to think through complex problems or to compare points of view.<\/p>\n<p>And it&#8217;s not just television that poses a threat to reading, it&#8217;s the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/technology\/internet\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px\">internet\u00a0<\/a>too.<\/p>\n<p>[ <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/technology\/2009\/jan\/20\/internet-homer\" target=\"_blank\">click to continue reading at The Guardian<\/a> ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>from The Guardian UK How the web is undermining reading From Plato to Guitar Hero, we have always been wary of change &#8211; but the internet poses a serious threat to society&#8217;s ability to read Naomi Alderman guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20 January 2009 12.00 GMT Article history \u00a0 Rembrandt&#8217;s Aristotle with the Bust of Homer. Photograph: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-literary-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}