I think this is also a worsening problem, although it’s certainly not unknown among older people. - ThreadSky

beijingpalmer.bsky.social • 20 days ago

I think this is also a worsening problem, although it’s certainly not unknown among older people.

One thing social media has taught me (though I have definitely experienced it in other media too): a lot of people, even quite smart people, are worryingly bad at reading comprehension. For instance: many have trouble distinguishing between someone *describing* a thing and *advocating* that thing.

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marbleliberal.bsky.social•20 days ago

This is why I can't get hired. There have been forums threads denouncing me for it

dalassa.bsky.social•20 days ago

Literally every time I try to describe a factual thing about Israel but not endorse it.

dalassa.bsky.social•20 days ago

This is a barrier to discussing any past society. So many interpersonal interactions were done in circumstances we consider absolute coercion, but the people in those situations didn’t see it that way.

You have people who negotiated their lives in the bounds they had but had agency within them.

dalassa.bsky.social•20 days ago

Again, not a freaking endorsement of any of this, I shouldn’t even have to say that, but when you evaluate the past you have to keep in mind people’s attitudes at the time and now.

dalassa.bsky.social•20 days ago

Take Roman slavery and American slavery for instance. Both were integral to their societies and were cruel and capricious institutions. However no one in Rome ever seriously advocated for abolition. It wasn’t even on the moral landscape.

dalassa.bsky.social•20 days ago

Not the case at any time in American slavery. People were constantly criticizing it and advocating for its end.

Again, not an endorsement of either system, just acknowledging that they took place in different moral worlds.

chugachmtnblues.bsky.social•20 days ago

Spartacus did

dalassa.bsky.social•20 days ago

And Rome reacted really badly to the Servile Wars

militantnerd.bsky.social•20 days ago

Older people often can't understand what is written; younger people often can't comprehend what is written.

dhpljm266.bsky.social•20 days ago

I had long thought this was something that developed out of dysfunctional internet milieux like Tumblr and the Tartarian Depths of Youngadultfandom where you could magic up someone’s Badthought by describing plot, argument, etc in a bad faith way, but either it’s spread or it’s a bigger problem.

doughoff.bsky.social•20 days ago

I wonder if it is caused by reflexive querulousness that social media brings out in people. Semi-deliberately misreading something so as to have grounds to argue.

wudang.com•20 days ago

Pervasive would be a good word, too.
Many people don't read that much anymore and never really had to learn how to read nuances. US average vocabulary has been reduced to somewhere around second or third grade. Comprehensive reading and analysis skills aren't considered important.

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