this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2024
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I read somewhere that around ⅓ of people (at least in my country) are effectively illiterate. They can read but they can’t really understand what they read. They can’t solve logical tasks and would fail for example to take medication according to written instruction. It does explain a lot.
Is your country the USA?
This is a way broader phenomenon than just the US, though granted the US educational system might skew things a bit in a negative direction versus most other supposedly "Developed" Nations.
IMHO, in general very few people have to really think things through in their life or work and most people can live life in what's pretty much an auto-pilot of habits most of which were picked up in childhood, teen and early adult years, and such people simply don't have any "training" on figuring complex things out by themselves and will have trouble understanding complex subjects.
Further, the instructions for advanced domain stuff (for example Medicine and some kinds of Tech) are often riddled with domain specific language that people without a broader vocabulary won't understand.
That's why dictionary exists.
Which other country believes Earth is Flat?
That's a tiny minority of people and an ultra-specific belief.
I would say that the prevalence of the belief in fairy stories being real (aka Religions, Cults and so on) would be a pretty good indication of just how common and widely spread the Comprehension Handicapped are all over the World.
I think the modern flat earth idea started in the UK but I don't actually know of anyone who believes it, it's still very much a "village idiot" thing.
Your username 🥺
For the love of God, and all that is holy...
1 guy 1 jar is brought to mind. 🥲
The ones I know have been born-agains.
Which kinda tracks.
If believing one thing with every fibre of your being is your new foundation stone, dismissing another belief that doesn't contradict your first one can become tricky.
Even of the literate people, far too few bother reading instructions. People who can read and interpret law texts, but they still click away a pop-up unread when setting up a new phone for example. The only people who I've only ever had a good experience with when it came to diligently reading and following instructions + escalating the problem when the instructions were unclear, were professional accountants.
Call communists, they are good at illiteracy elimination.