▶ Your Answer :
There have been dissenters to the view that whether one is literate or not is more important today than in the past. However, in my opinion, abilities to read and write became more important these days than it has ever been. This is because more knowledge is recorded in written forms today, and how well you can read and write became one of the most crucial factors when you are evaluated by others. To begin with, most information that one gets from and teaches to other people is recorded in written forms now. In detail, most knowledge was informed orally in the past. However, you should be able to read and write in order to obtain knowledge you want and teach what you know to others. For example, a research was conducted by the Korean Institute of history which tracked how large portion of information was represented in written forms. The study was performed by finding the number of all information and that of written information shown in all books in each period. As a result, the researchers found that nearly 10% of the information was written in the Middle Age, but 81% of the knowledges were recorded in the written forms these days. The result of this research reveals that one should be literate to share useful information with others. On top of that, a capability to read and write is one of the most important standards used in evaluations. In the past, agricultural technologies or skills to sell goods were considered the most necessary abilities in making a good living. However, embracing others' ideas by reading and representing one's thoughts through writing are one of the most essential factors of being tested in the modern society. For instance, the University of Tokyo conducted a research to determine how much literacy is important to find a job from 1000 to 2010 in Japan. Here, the researchers referred to historical books as many as possible. As a result, they found that the importance of literacy increased drastically after 1900s where knowing how to read and write was not crucial before. This means that one should know reading and writing to be successful in the lives of these days. To sum up, literacy became more important, because most information is written and abilities to read and write are deeply evaluated. In this regard, I strongly believe that literacy is more crucial than ever before. |