[gumperbumper]

Reading is like 5000 years old. It requires almost no resources to learn and do. I don’t think this is a spending problem.

[ivell]

It could be a spending problem if we need to overcome cultural restraints. Poor communities often do not have encouragement towards reading and if the teachers are not sufficiently staffed or not skilled enough to inspire kids, I can see why kids are not interested in reading and learning.

[sonzohan]

"The idea that learning to read is just like learning to speak is accepted by no responsible linguist, psychologist, or cognitive scientist in the research community"

The Reading Teacher 47, 1993-1994 https://archive.org/details/sim_reading-teacher_1993-1994_47...

[gumperbumper]

I’m not saying learning to read is like learning to speak. I’m saying that people have learned to read with far fewer resources than we have available today. If anything, we likely have _too_ many resources today. For instance, what is the impact of screen time on reading ability? That’s just one of many examples.

[tayo42]

Come on, this isn't true. Only the rich is old societies were educated and could read.

[cf100clunk]

Check into monastic cultures with mendicant traditions, who were absolutely literate and minded towards archival research. They were not rare, just extremely private and usually secretive to avoid those either in power or led by paranoia who would destroy them.

[HPsquared]

Reading material used to be very expensive (handwritten books).