The most monumental invention of the last five hundred years is the printing press.

Thanks to the innovations provided by Gutenberg (and yes, I know the Chinese and Koreans had a similar methodology centuries before), access to information became readily available to the masses. This resulted in an increase in literacy, a wave of critical thinking and the beginning of a period we refer to as the enlightenment.

The big shift was getting people to read. Doing so got them thinking for themselves, thereby being able to challenge, or support, what was being said on the pulpit.

And yet, here we are, five hundred years later rejecting the printed word in lieu of the pulpit of media sound bites and online videos.

How often do I hear, “I don’t like reading,” “I don’t read,” or “I hate reading?” and yet…

We are in an age where access to information is even easier and cheaper, yet we ignore it.

We’ve mistakenly made the assumption that the ability to access information is the same as knowing it,
knowing what to do with it,
being able to process it.

Our ability to think and learn is tied into our ability to focus for long periods of time. Reading long texts is still the single greatest activity we can do to cultivate that mindset.

And we can either hope for another Gutenberg breakthrough invention that will change the way our minds work, or kickstart another revolution in which people think critically for themselves.