From Learning to Read and Think

My hero "MyHero" sent me on a remembrance trip to 1984 with his https://noise.cash/post/ljx57v39

And then, after watching both of these clips

Kenny Loggins - Footloose (Official Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltrMfT4Qz5Y

Footloose Final Dance 1984 to 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyD8BxoB2To

I realized what Dorothy Sayers meant 1947/48 when she said "By the invention of the film and the radio, we have made certain that no aversion to reading shall secure [our young men and women] from the incessant battery of [ideas, ideas, ideas]. They do not know what the [ideas] mean; they do not know how to ward them off or blunt their edge or fling them back; they are a prey to [ideas] in their emotions instead of being the masters of them in their intellects."

That was the moment when I began to write down these ideas here without further ado and then turned back to my own goals for the day.

In the evening, while translating a text about Self-Directed Education, I then came across an interview with a fellow who, at 15, left the school he attended, without being able to read - with the support of his father and the school principal.

At the end of the video clip, I hear him say the words, "I think it taught me all the confidence. I think Summerhill gave me a lot of strength to trust in my own judgement and trust my own feelings."

Boy who did not want to learn to read - Children of Summerhill 1998
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o58xTHGYzIY

This once again gave weight to my aforementioned decision to end my 1984 excursion.

PS: It is worth noting how Dorothy Sayers does not speak of "children" or of "kids" here, for they are no less human than adults and capable of language long before being fed media, whether written or photographed.

PPS: This text is available in German language at https://read.cash/@anli/vom-lesen-und-vom-denken-lernen-458eec21

Image by Jürgen Rübig from Pixabay