New class of illiteracy

Just merely a century ago almost 80% of the world population was totally or very much illiterate. Not until the idea of universal education was introduced just several decades ago then the general masses was given the chance of receiving education. Before that, studying was the privilege for certain social classes like the priests, members of royal families, nobles or the riches in the ancient time. Almost all common folks were not capable to write or read a single word at all, let alone studying with books. All their knowledge at that time was either the experiences passed down by their ancestors or learning by doing.

Over the centuries books are the condensation and carriers of knowledge from generation to generation. Due to illiteracy the general masses was deprived for centuries from this valuable heritage which was the drive of the technological and cultural progress. Also because of the lack of education, the mind of the general masses was muddled. They were not capable to comprehend the phenomenons happened around them because of their very weak reasoning ability. Therefore the general masses appeared to be foolish and stupid or even uncivilized. On the contrary those privileged were benefited by the nutrient from books so they were knowledgeable and intelligent. That made a huge difference between the knows and the don't knows thus fostered and strengthened the relationship between the ruling and the be ruled.

Things started to change only when universal eduction was promoted to the public as the result of the industrialization which demanded a lot of skilled workers whom needed at least basic education to be skillful. Driven by the democracy thinking sprung decades ago education is considered as a human right nowadays so illiteracy basically became history of the past in most parts of the world now except those suffered from poverty, civil wars or because of religious reason.

Since the universalization of eduction to the general public, the gap between the knows and the don't knows is shrinking. Knowledge is even seen as a turn around for the poors because education allows the kids from the poor families to climb up along the social ladder to improve living. This thinking holds true with the emergence of more and more middle class throughout the world nowadays. They were largely attributed by the higher education received comparing to their parents.

While literacy and education improved people's living since decades ago, there seems a new class of illiteracy is emerging especially in the past few years. I am not talking about those less fortunate people whom are deprived from education as I mentioned earlier. After all they are not new. What I am saying is technology illiterate. Science is advancing in an unprecedented rate day after day. New theories and new technologies are discovered everyday in all different science fields particularly in supercomputing, bio/genetics, neuroscience and artificial intelligence/robotic...etc. The pace is so fast that not only the experts in the related fields have to struggle to keep up with the latest development in order not to be left behind. To the general public the hot topics in the science world nowadays is really something happening in another planet. How many of the common folks understand what quantum physics, dwarf galaxy, superconductor, CRISPR are all about? Let alone to understand their principles and how these science are working. The general public is literally technological illiterate when facing these cutting edge sciences.

The polarization between the knows and don't knows on the fast developing science gave rise of this new class of illiteracy. People who are engaged in these cutting edge scientific researches are the smartest brains in the world. They are at the foremost positions in the front line of researches and the rest of the world is just chasing after them. Among these majorities, some can barely keep up with these smartest brains but most of the majority is not only left behind but just literally are not able to understand at all even just the principle of these advanced researches. A huge gap is emerging.

The gap in the past was attributed by the social ranking system but this new gap is the result of IQ differences. The old gap can be reduced by the provision of education to the general public but this new gap is about the inherent intellectual quality in each and every person and it is difficult, if not unable at all, to change. The old gap brought up the relationship of ruling and be ruled. What is this new gap going to create when the smartest brains keep leaping forward while the general masses not even has a chance to follow the bandwagon?

Homo sapiens is the systematic name to describe modern human being. The key difference between Homo sapiens and its ancestor Apes is the degree of intelligence owned by these two species so as the things they are able to do under their respective intelligence. Those smartest scientists engaging in the most advanced scientific researches have much higher IQ than do the common folks in the first place. Due to their high IQ their learning curve is steeper and requires much less time to pick up new knowledge than the common folks. The result is that these smartest brains not only keep excel than common folks but in an much faster progress rate than the counterpart. Will there be one day these smartest brains evolute into the super Homo sapiens which dwarfs the existing human being in similar way in which we, as homo sapiens, to look at apes?