[extropy-chat] Intelligence of Leaders

[MB]

I suspect that literacy was rather more sharply divided into those who *did* read
and those who did not - could not. Nowadays "everybody" *can* read a bit. Many can't
read much. Witness the newspaper articles of 1900 or earlier vs. today.  Heck, just
look at magazine articles from the 40s or 50s vs. today. :(

Check out the McGuffey readers... I do not think many of our public highschool
students today would be able to make much sense of the Sixth Eclectic Reader, alas.

Books were greatly valued, unlike today when most ordinary second hand books are
sold by the box-lot at auction for mnimum bid... $5 or less.  In the past, books
were sometimes even listed for probate, because they were desirable, valuable, and
treasured.

Finishing highschool has little to do with being able to read, IMHO. There have been
many fine writers and successful businessmen who never finished school. People can
be quite well educated without official or government schooling.

Regards,
MB