Book reading experience and the ultimate technology

The computer is just a feeble attempt of humankind to replicate the workings of a unique invention,

while science is an attempt to understand the craftsmanship of the greatest masterpiece – Nature.

As we all know, scientists can only replicate carbon-based life forms. They cannot literally make from

out of thin air any genetic material. They rely on raw materials from resources provided by nature. It

[5]  is just like trying to simulate the functions of the human brain by inventing the computer. The brain

is the fastest and most powerful multimedia computer that exists in the present. It is organic, self

upgrading and has high articulation. The computer, on the other hand, cannot help itself without the

intervention of humans.

A computer hooked to the internet provides access to all the knowledge of humanity. However, there

[10]  is a downside about this convenience. It deprives the human brain the necessary thinking skills and

training for data hunting and information processing. A student today only needs to access the internet

to do research homework. However, the learning experience is defeated since it is not the student who

researches the data needed for the school homework but the web browser. So where is the selective

learning process?

[15]  If carrying books is so tiresome, mobile devices like smart phones will do the trick. All a student has to

do is search in a web browser for the Intext free eBook reader, for example, and then hit enter. While

there are lots of commercially available eBooks being offered out there, education must not be so

costly. That’s why there are millions of electronic books downloadable all over the world for free.

Reading books, either printed or the electronic version, provides the learner the essential mental

[20]  training for data hunting, logical reasoning for information processing and the uncanny ability to

differentiate truth from lies, right from wrong, facts from fallacy, real from a hoax and the appropriate

from the inappropriate.

In the process of reading a book, a learner elevates the capacity of the human brain for stimulation of

the senses by indexing information for instant recall and further developing comprehension through

[25]  mental processing of data.

Nature is the “Ultimate Technology” and the human brain is one of its most powerful inventions. We

are zillions of years more advanced as compared to our technology. However, digital media such as

e-texts can surely serve as invaluable and easy to access reading material. Thus, let’s take advantage of

this technology to the fullest by engaging in reading extensively in order to enhance our natural skills

and talents.

A poeta e ativista palestina Rafeef Ziadah estava participando da cobertura jornalística do massacre em Gaza quando um jornalista não-palestino perguntou-lhe se as coisas não seriam melhores se os palestinos parassem de ensinar o ódio às suas crianças. Em resposta a essa pergunta, Ziadah compôs o poema “We teach life, sir”, transcrito a seguir:

Today, my body was a TV’d massacre

that had to fit into sound-bites and word limits.

And I perfected my English and I learned my UN resolutions.

But still, he asked me, Ms. Ziadah, don’t you think that

everything would be resolved

if you would just stop teaching so much hatred to your

children?

Pause.

I look inside of me for strength to be patient

but patience is not at the tip of my tongue as the bombs drop

over Gaza.

Today, my body was a TV’d massacre made to fit into soundbites and word limits

and move those that are desensitized to terrorist blood.

And these are not two equal sides: occupier and occupied.

And a hundred dead, two hundred dead, and a thousand dead.

And between that, war crime, and massacre,

I vent out words and smile “not exotic”, “not terrorist”.

No sound-bite will fix this.

We teach life, sir.