How individuals reading books dispersed understanding

How individuals reading books dispersed understanding

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The world today is built on an almost incomprehensible quantity of understanding that has been handed down in books.

It is necessary to keep in mind that, although plenty of the best modern books of all time tend to be considered as ground-breaking works of fiction, for most of mankind's literary history, we did not write much fiction at all. The majority of stories would have been sung throughout the great majority of history, simply since the vast majority of individuals could not read, suggesting that most books were specialised things meant for those few who might comprehend them. After a short boom throughout the classical era of antiquity, the quantity of literate individuals dropped drastically throughout the Middle Ages. Books became uncommon treasures, with monks painstakingly copying out the enduring timeless texts by hand so as to protect them, as they were a few of the only members of the populace who could read or write. They were the professional keepers of knowledge like biology and religious beliefs that all of us have access to in the modern world.

With such an abundant history of concepts, events, and stories right at our fingertips, it's often easy to forget how extremely fortunate we are to have the likes of the founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones or the CEO of the asset manager with a stake in Amazon books supporting access to a substantial proportion of all the books that have actually ever been composed (or the good ones at least). The best books of all time can quickly alter the way that you take a look at the world, and that has held true throughout all of history too. The modern world is built upon understanding that has been passed down through books, whether that is ideology, science, or history, and human civilisation would not be anywhere near as advanced as it is today if it had actually not been for the books that changed minds across the ages.

It can be hard to picture what the world would resemble today if the vast bulk of individuals were not able to read, but for the large bulk of history the huge majority of people could not, and nor were books available even if they could. It was the development of the printing press towards the close of the 15th that changed that, making books a lot more available. Naturally, it was still just really the richest and well-educated that could read or write, however it made it possible for a whole host of advancements in science, art, and thinking to be spread out throughout great distances. Consider what would have taken place if the theory of gravity, or of evolution, could not have actually been dispersed across the globe. Human civilisation rests upon a foundation of books, and we are fortunate to be able to just log onto a site like the one backed by the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books, and quickly gain access to the totality of human understanding.