Proust and Squid write-up

After reading "human beings were never born to read" on the back cover of Proust and Squid by Maryanne Wolf, I was planning on writing an angry entry. I was ready to argue. "What does that really mean?" I wondered. All throughout this book, however, my questions is nicely answered.

On page 11, for instance, Wolf explains that there are no genes specific to reading in a human, as there are specific genes for vision and speech. Further into the book, Wolf also explains how each individual must "re-learn" how to read(I say "re-learn" but mean everyone must learn for the first time). Reading is not pre-programmed into us which explains why some people can read better than others.

Reading fluency largely depends on a child's environment growing up. If a child was surrounded by stories, fairytales, was often read to, then chances are the child's brain will develop well enough to become literate. On the other hand, a child who is often read to and does not listen to language often will have difficulties.

I know this book had nothing to do with race, but I want to take this time to make a comment about it. I once had a friend who thought that minorities were of a lower intelligence than "whites" because he viewed them as not as literate as other kids (this was in elementary school, mind you). I always knew he was incorrect about this and I kind of wish I still knew this friend so I could show him this book! You see, unfortunately, in this country, minorities still do not make an average salary(my friend who studied race issues in a class told me ALL about it). In Proust and Squid, Wolf explains that there is a correlation between salary and an environment in which a child may successfully become literate. Children fall behind because of their environment, which has nothing to do with intelligence or capacity to learn. If I still knew this friend today, I would tell him that and I would tell him how reading is not pre-programmed in us(it has nothing to do with genetics!) so what he thought would not make sense. I know this paragraph that I just wrote seems obvious to all of you reading (or I hope none of you think a race is actually superior to another, if so, you're wrong), but I felt I had to write it because some people actually do exist that feel that some people are smarter than others.

The only time that someone may be more literate than another person when it has nothing to do with environment is, I believe, when someone has dyslexia, which Wolf also talks about. Dyslexia is believed to be a "disorder" where someone's brain is actually wired differently than others, so there are different neural connections which makes reading more challenging. I found it so intriguing that Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, among other famous genuises had dyslexia! Their brains really must be wired in a way that allows for more creativity.

I found it interesting that Chinese is symbolic/logographic rather than our language which is mostly phonemic. The reason I find it interesting is because in 2nd grade, if I did not know how to spell a word, my teacher would tell me to sound it out and however the word sounded, I would try to spell it using the letters I knew that sounded similarly. If I had been learning Chinese, this would not be possible. In Chinese, you either know it or you don't!!!

My last comments will be arguing for and against Socrates' beliefs. I agree that there are dangers in writing-- one may not carefully analyze what they read or take in the wrong interpretation. However, I would argue that this is why we discuss what we read: to clear up any confusion. Taking in different interpretations is also what I find to be the beauty of writing. Different interpretations can show a creative mind. Additionally, I believe that getting a different sense of reality from reading is wonderful. It is good to have an imagination and I find it amazing what the brain can come up with. It feels good to be human.

P.S. ...Because of evolution, I do wonder if one day reading will become pre-programmed in us...