Implications from Neuroscience on the future of literacy, literature and society

"...research depicts how the present reading brain enables the development of some of our most important intellectual and affective processes: internalized knowledge, analogical reasoning, and inference; perspective-taking and empathy; critical analysis and the generation of insight. Research surfacing in many parts of the world now cautions that each of these essential “deep reading” processes may be under threat as we move into digital-based modes of reading".

I was recently reading an article by Maryanne Wolf, Director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at UCLA.

Wolf's article described research revealing how digital technologies have radically changed reading practices, leading to a reduced ability to comprehend the deeper meanings within text.

Such a decline in reading comprehension has profound implications for knowledge acquisition (learning), reasoning (cognitive inference generation) and critical thinking. Beyond these cognitive declines the inability to properly comprehend complex text has worrying implications for a loss of empathy and perspective when dealing with complex issues within society.

Losing the ability to understand or appreciate literature?

These declining cognitive abilities are the very skills required to enjoy and properly comprehend literature. When readers lack the basic skills needed to understand storylines (plots) and text based descriptions or empathise with a character, they lose access to the vast majority of existing literature. A resource which has provided intellectual stimulation and emotional support since the time of the Ancient Greeks.

Is this the future? A population so stunted in its cognitive abilities that it can no longer understand complex ideas, appreciate rich descriptions, show empathy for others or focus their attention on a single idea for more than two minutes?

Personally I do not think everyone will abandon the challenge of complex reading because it is that very challenge which enriches the mind, fires the imagination, and empowers the intellect.

I hope you will appreciate the plot, rich descriptions and characters that has made my own story, Bridge of Souls, an enjoyable adventure for so many readers.

Read a sample of Bridge of Souls and decide if you want to join the adventure!

#writerslife #writers #authors #books #publishers

Comments

The Rules within The Bridge of Souls World.

Writers have to have some laws to govern how their characters behave (unless you work for the Government and are writing political speeches). I decided to set my story very firmly in the real world. By that I mean the action and activities of my characters respect the Laws of Physics and exist within the same physical world that my readers inhabit. My characters buy train tickets, bleed, sleep, eat, live and die by the same rules we do. Every location in Bridge of Souls is real. By that I mean you, the reader, can travel there and see the same buildings, roads, doors, pathways, trees and distances as my character see and explore in the story. For the supernatural elements within the story I limited myself to the same rules as would be applied by a court of law. I only permitted phenomena that have been reported by multiple independent witnesses in different places and different times. Yes, these rules made writing of the story more of a challenge but the end result

Forbidden Knowledge: Eastern Esoteric Traditions of Reincarnation, Consciousness and Death

Citipati, Lords of the Cemetery. Bardo Thödol. Tibetan Book of the Dead. If you have been following my posts you will already know that in writing Bridge of Souls I wanted to include, not just classic action and adventure, but also elements of the supernatural. And, when I say supernatural, I do not mean just made up hokum, as is so often the modern trend in supernatural fiction, but story elements that reflect genuine esoteric traditions and techniques. As you have gathered, mysteries have had a life long fascination for me. I have been fortunate enough in my working life to visit some of the most remote places on earth and meet some extraordinary people. During these travels I frequently came across reports of reincarnation and, when talking with advanced practitioners of esoteric paths, such as Raja Yoga , of specific techniques which manipulated the life force and consciousness. In researching these techniques I came across accounts of how advanced mysti

Dr John Dee, Elizabethan Magician and Pioneer of Mathematics

At around the age of ten, I used to spend hours in a reference library reading everything I could consume. It was at this time that I first came upon the works of a 16th century gentleman called Dr John Dee (1527–1609). Modern history takes a dim view of Dee and dismisses him a nutcase, due to his interest in Magic and Alchemy. However one must always place things in context. At the time of Dee science was unknown in England, as was the field of mathematics. Mathematics was not really taught in schools (just simple addition) and there were no chairs of mathematics in any English university. Dee was one of the founders of the "English School of Mathematics". He travelled to Europe, at his own expense, to study under the very few pioneers in this emerging field. He then brought this knowledge back to England and helped found a tradition that would eventually produce Isaac Newton (Dee was one of the shoulders Newton stood upon - "If I have seen further it

K.R.M. Morgan

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