The concept of literacy isn't as straightforward as you might think, it has little and everything to do with education. Being literate is not a constant thing, since the mind needs activities and knowledge to sharpen its edges from time to time. The concept of literacy doesn't necessarily cover all fields since someone that is knowledgeable in a specific field can be an illiterate in another.
It is not subjective to formal education, since we have people who pass through the structure of formal education with certificate as evidence but still lack practical understanding of the field they have studied or lack general understanding about life, this kind of people are called educated illiterates, which means you can be educated and still be an illiterate, not just because you don't understand specific things in the field you studied but there are some areas of life a human is expected to have knowledge of, if such knowledge is absent in a human life, it doesn't really matter if the person goes to Harvard University or be in possession of numerous degrees, the person in question can still be considered as an illiterate.
This is what makes literacy a lot complex but not everyone view it this way. Most people believe that the moment you attend a school and reach a particular level in the formal education ladder, it automatically means you have overcome literacy. It is true that a person that passes through a formal education structure and acquired validated certificate can be considered to be an educated person but does it mean such a person has become all knowing? Literacy is about being in possession of knowledge, wisdom and specific skill that are needed in specific situations.
Does literacy helps make a better person? I believe the first question we need to ask ourselves is that, does literacy makes people more reasonable? Only a reasonable person can become a better person, since such person needs understanding of his/her environment to relate with it appropriately and accordingly. Based on what I have seen from most people considered as literates, it can't be said that literacy makes a better person, it just gives people the capabilities to take advantages of opportunities around them. Which means it up to each literate individual to choose which path they want to embark on with their knowledge.
I have witnessed people who are seen as literates do things capable of shaming the devil, it makes you wonder what role being literate plays. Having literate parents might influence the way they do things but what does their literacy compound of? They might just be computer literate with no knowledge or experience of how to properly raise a child, in this situation, who does their literacy help? This is also applicable to having neighbours, it is only when people have a reasonable amount of knowledge and willing to use the knowledge for good it is only then they will be capable of being better people, if not, they are just regular people.
Does being learned means people will have less appetite to hurt others? Probably but it depends on what they have learnt. Like I said earlier, education does not determine literacy, being literate is not equal to being learned and being learned doesn't translate to being reasonable. A human being is an embodiment of both evil and good, the one we feed the most becomes the most potent aspect of ourselves. Haven't we heard of people considered as a genius become a mastermind of crimes? Will you say such a person haven't learnt anything? Humans just choose to use whatever we have learnt for what we consider suitable, either good or bad.
So being literate have nothing and everything to do with our capabilities to do evil or to abstain from it. Meaning if a person who is learned decides to use it for evil doing, such person will be good at it because of the knowledge he/she possesses but if someone that is considered to be an illiterate decides to do good things, it does not necessarily mean the person would be bad at it but the person would have been more effective if he/she was a literate. Goodness is something natural just like evil, being learned is like a fertiliser that helps enhance any of the path we choose. You can't pour a fertiliser on a land without a seed and expect a crop to grow, some thing will definitely germinate but it wouldn't be what was expected.
When it comes to making mistakes, it is one thing no one is above. The one thing that makes making mistakes worst is ignorance, which means being literate doesn't necessarily mean you have overcome ignorance. Example of this is an accident that occurred in Lagos State about 2 years ago. A BRT { Government owned transit bus) driver decided to create his own version of fast and furious when he suddenly tries to outrun a train. What happened was that, the transit bus driver was aware of the incoming train and wanted to quickly cross the train tracks.
The passengers kept screaming to notify him of his reckless decision but he ignored their warning and did it anyway. Unlucky for him and the passengers, the driver couldn't cross the train tracks on time, so the bus got hit by the train and was dragged by the train like a trash can. A lot of people lost their lives and lot more were severely injured, excluding the driver. He sustained minor injuries and also escaped death. The incident occurred in the morning, which means majority of the passengers were people going to their workplace but their lives were cut short by the reckless driver.
So would you say the driver has not learned enough to understand such tricks are not applicable to real life situations? Or would you say he is not aware of the dangers of his actions? The truth is, he didn't care and his ignorance cost innocent people their lives. Being erudite is just an enhancer for evil or good, it doesn't necessarily determine it but for mistakes being literate is not enough to overcome it, discipline is needed.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Literacy in hive learners community.
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