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Literate communities have always looked different to their critics
April 15, 2026
AI Analysis: Name Calling
Posted 19 hours ago by
Doug Belshaw, Open Thinkering, Apr 15, 2026 This is a well-argued and dare I say literate response to critics of screen culture. When you've closed 800 libraries and gutted the infrastructure through which people build reading communities, writes Doug Belshaw, blaming screens is a conclusion in search of a cause. Woven through the argument is Belshaw's account of what it means to be literate.
To be literate is to be part of a literate community. This involves sharing references, arguing about ideas, and having the knowledge to participate in discourse. Different communities have different kinds of literacies. It's also a good response, to my mind, to the argument based on 'cognitive offloading' and AI. These young people weren't less capable than previous cohorts; they were differently capable. Ultimately, If we want to defend democracy, we should be defending the conditions that make critical engagement with it possible. Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]
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Technique: Name Calling
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