I certainly can't remember everything I read and heard in school. It seems that as a student, I heard urging to stay up on current events. Broadcast radio was the current hot method of getting the news then, as well as newspapers. It may seem that books and print have been around forever, but they could still be considered a somewhat new invention, in terms of evolutionary time and the history of humans. Widespread printing began in 1450. Radio broadcasting began about 1920. Now with television and the internet, in my part of the world, we have rapid distribution of ideas and messages about events.
I was impressed with variety and breadth of topics yesterday as I searched for a book title and author I had benefited from in the past. I knew the title was a compound word that had been made up to serve a purpose. I finally found it:"Paleofantasy", a book by Dr. Marlene Zuk. I knew the book related to anthropology and the life of early humans. Some highlights from her book:
https://sites.google.com/view/kirbyvariety1/paleofantasy-some-notes-i-took-while-reading-her-book
Print is all very well but it is not of much use unless a person can read. Getting a good chance to learn to read, hopefully in a language with a broad set of things to read, is a basic hallmark of a modern person.
Education often includes learning to read and write in the early years, both as a foundation for reading holy and religiously basic and pivotal books like the Hebrew/Christian Bible and as a tool for further learning. Similarly, with writing: it is a basic tool for the student to show learning.
Educators often think of the term "critical thinking", that is applying some critical questions to what is being read. Does the author of this writing know what he is talking about? Does he present good reasons and cite convincing evidence to support his statements?
It seems to me that many of the current political and cultural questions and issues are related to increased critical thinking. When a reader can find several writings about a topic, pro and con arguments are likely to be apparent. So, the combination of reading ability, widespread availability of writing on many angles of a subject coupled, with the American and modern stance of thinking for one's self and being an independent thinker - these factors are bound to create a wide range of opinions and positions.
