The key reasons why people having books to read constructed the modern world

The key reasons why people having books to read constructed the modern world

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Our ability to access and read books has actually been definitely vital to our ability to comprehend the world around us.

It is essential to keep in mind that, although lots of the best modern books of all time tend to be considered ground-breaking works of fiction, for the majority of mankind's literary history, we did not compose much fiction at all. The majority of stories would have been sung throughout the great bulk of history, merely due to the fact that the vast bulk of individuals might not read, meaning that most books were specialised things meant for those few who could understand them. After a brief boom during the classical era of antiquity, the amount of literate individuals dropped dramatically during the Middle Ages. Books became rare treasures, with monks painstakingly copying out the enduring timeless texts by hand so as to maintain them, as they were a few of the only members of the population who were able to read or write. They were the professional keepers of understanding like biology and religious beliefs that we all have access to in the contemporary world.

It can be difficult to imagine what the world would be like today if the vast bulk of individuals were unable to read, but for the large bulk of history the large majority of people could not, and nor were books accessible even if they could. It was the invention of the printing press towards the close of the 15th that changed that, making books far more available. Naturally, it was still just truly the richest and well-educated that could read or write, however it made it possible for an entire host of advancements in science, art, and thinking to be spread across great distances. Consider what would have happened if the theory of gravity, or of evolution, could not have actually been dispersed around the world. Human civilisation rests upon a foundation of books, and we are lucky to be able to merely log onto a site like the one backed by the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books, and quickly access the totality of human knowledge.

With such an abundant history of concepts, events, and stories right at our fingertips, it's sometimes simple to forget how exceptionally fortunate we are to have the likes of the founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones or the CEO of the asset manager with a stake in Amazon books supporting access to a huge percentage of all the books that have actually ever been written (or the good ones at least). The best books of all time can quickly alter the way that you take a look at the world, which has been true throughout all of history too. The contemporary world is built upon understanding that has actually been passed down through books, whether that is ideology, science, or history, and human civilisation would not be anywhere near as advanced as it is today if it had actually not been for the books that changed minds across the ages.