I like the respect that radiates off this poem and its subject. Very strong-impression words, so fitting: "But why read/When you can stay so busy," and "To devotees of everything/And nothing." I like your ode to "Stories/Challenges/Literary treasures," too. Very well-written accound of 'what we are abandoning,' Odin. ~~ Diana

Alvin Toffler had a handle on it long ago. As life becomes more technological, we have become more technologically literate, but the masses are having a hard time keeping up, suffering from one form of "future shock" or another. Most people's lives have been sliced and diced into multitasking mania, leaving them very little time to communicate more than tweets on every occasion.

I see it in the writers here who have a very shortsighted view of life, language, and learning. No one today can go to law school every evening by the light of the fireplace like Abraham Lincoln and come out literate enough to write one of the greatest speeches of all time, the Gettysburg Address.

I am grateful that I was able to become a hermit during my 2 1/2 years of doctoral study curled up with books filled with history and wisdom with words far beyond my meager vocabulary at that time. As we lose time to read and contemplate what we are reading, we lose the insight of the ages. It is a terrible loss. Perhaps we can gain some of it back by having the requirement of a basic high school education that certain classics (on the Internet) have to be read by the student before being granted a GED.

But then, I see they have improved the SAT by removing the requirement of writing an essay. in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) society, linguistics and literature have low value.

Ron

The malady affects more than reading--it has also reduced writing and speaking into dreary morsels of incomprehensibility. OMG! I just used a complete sentence and lost half my audience. WTF?

you are so very right
budd

A travesty indeed. We are losing so much, so fast to this kamikaze tech obsession. Reading a good book is quickly becoming a thing of the past, as are long lovely nature walks, and stopping to smell the roses.

I thought telling strangers in Facebook where they are and what they're doing every hour of the day in the Facebook's status is bad enough, but tweeting is even worse!! But then after I've done some observation, I've come to realize that some of those people who are telling everyone everything in Facebook are actually older people that may be living alone, or with an older spouse, so greeting everyone good morning everyday is just a means to tell their families and friends that they are still alive and kicking. With the letter carriers phasing out in Canada Post, there will be no one to check on the older folks that live alone, so the internet can work as a tool for them to get connected with their friends and relatives everyday to let them know they are still alive. I agree... it's sad that some of the younger generation use abbreviations, and sometimes I don't even know what they are talking about. LOL!!! But then again, if you've got the time to type everything long instead of using abbreviations when texting people would think you REALLY need to get a life, 'cause you have so much time in your hands to do that. You can't win anyway. LOL!!! Sad, but true.

Sandie

I hate the short-cut to words. Don't know what the world is coming to, but unless someone has the clout to get back to language instead of cyberspace words such as . . . How r u, as an example, I fear for the world. Period.

To digest anything more complicated than breakfast would simply overload your senses, cause your fuses to short out. Best to drown yourself in coffee which has long since down the trick and call it a day by ten. ;)