neurological dryer lint

my mind has just been blown. wow. someone just took a rambled, distorted shred of an idea in my mind, unfocused, and focused it. it makes sense now.

i'm reading this book called free culture by lawrence lessig. you can download the book free from the site.

what a quaint idea. a free book. that's good.

anyway. a few chapters in he touches on a concept that my brain has scraped in the process of figuring out how to effecively communicate with high school kids as a leader. something artie and i spent long hours bouncing around - and something my team is mulling over again. he discusses the idea of media literacy.

the idea is that our culture is no longer simply about reading words on a page, receiving data and information in a steady stream of text. the newspaper. non-interactive culture. we are about video, pictures, music, art - sharing these things, using them to communicate with each other. media-literates are those who are able to express themselves using forms of communication outside of simple speech, or simple text. some forms of this literacy come easier to others - i can blog (relay stories and experiences and opinions), kind of write, sort of play the guitar, but i can't paint you a picture or sing or create a good motion picture clip. some can. but i can relate to others in a far more significant way in this way. i LOVE reading blogs, because i love to write in mine. i love to show people my pictures, tell people about the music i like and discuss it. and it's not simply a form of entertainment anymore - it's become a way in which i express my feelings and emotions. a medium that i can relate to other people across, by referencing common themes.

corporate culture has taken advantage of human laziness and created those groups of people who are 'read only' - in a sense, who simply feed off of the culture and do not contribute. who sit on the couch and drink a steady stream of tv and commercials, who chew up pop music because it's prevalent and easy to obtain. not that one group is better, in the sense of value - but those who read + write are contributing and by contributing feel a greater, more complete, more refreshing and fulfilling experience.

and there are those who remain media-illiterate - those who are unable to put down their newspaper and see a different, new model. those who choose to be, and those who are afraid, and those who are simply unable to grasp the idea.

it makes so much sense. the next generation will be completely media-literate - filled with both read-onlys and r/w's. we will have to function in that pool of culture.

christians will have to function. this is why churches are heading in that direction. but our experience will be far richer than past generations.

and it raises another question - should we always seek to appreciate our improved situation? is it improved over that of the past generation - because we have a more interactive, information-rich environment in which we live our lives? i think we are. should we become acclimated to it, take it for granted? should we wonder at the marvels for the rest of our lives?

more than anything - we have more ways to express ourselves than ever before, and that will no doubt enrich our culture wonderfully. we must strive to protect that expression and the freedom to do it how we want.