Kalhoun spoke well of one of my posts! :eek: 
<—proud smile.
shutterbug: 1. post more often; you have sound thoughts to contribute.
and 2. you raise some good points. I think of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the depth and breadth of knowledge she and her pioneer family had–they were not anomalies by any means. I don’t have the book to hand, but I have a book about an English lady who explored Estes Park CO and wrote of her travels. References to literature and poetry abound in her account, as does an intimate knowledge of scripture.
Maybe she and Wilder made it all up, but it seems to me that there was a focus on learning, bettering oneself and truly thinking things through pre WW2 that there isn’t today. Perhaps it was the advent of TV or the acceleration in science and technology to the degree that Joe Blow could no longer obtain a mastery of any one subject just by reading and dicussing that changed the focus so profoundly.
Certainly there has been a decrease in expectations and a lowering of standards regarding academic achievement in public schools today. A gross generalization, but overall I think it’s true. I cannot agree strongly enough with shutterbug --the whole AR program is messed up. Instead of having kids think critically and analyze the works they have read, it wants to make sure that the kids read every page. He or she is asked what color this character wore in what chapter or what the best friend’s nickname was–not whether that nickname symbolized something or effected the character in a way important to the plot. It’s an odd way to teach appreciation of literature. It does get kids to read-but to what end? I realize that anecdotes are like snowflakes on a March day here, but in 6th grade, I was reading Tennyson. I am only 43. My sophomore in HS, honors and AP classes, has yet to read Tennyson or any other major poet. I could go on, but the point is obvious.
That is not to say that reading and the enjoyment of literature are the only methods of gaining insight and improving intellgence. Acquiring factual knowledge online or from other a/v and print media is obviously of value. But the written word as a way to convey cultural and archetypal values (mores, really) is unparalleled.
Are the best years behind us in this regard? Ms Lee might think so. I prefer to think that we cannot say at present. Who knows where we are headed? Will people, once the struggle for existence and subsistence is over for all (or most)-will we become essentially large toddlers, content with noises, and lights and funny surprises, preoccupied with sex, gossip and crime? Or will we continue to grow as individuals and as a species in terms of understanding and in desiring complexities in our music, books and art? Stay tuned. 
