Are We Becoming Easier to Manipulate?

I recently read a study examining the relationship between literacy and voting. What caught my attention wasn’t the politics. It was the literacy.  As I ready through the article I was reminded of several recent interactions on Facebook posts with people who seemed to understand the words they were reading but lacked the ability to think critically through the arguments and make informed decisions.  I think we need to take a closer look at this issue.

For years we’ve been told that Americans are becoming more educated. In one sense, that’s true. High school graduation rates are higher than ever, and a larger percentage of Americans hold college degrees than any previous generation. But researchers are increasingly pointing out that educational attainment and literacy are not the same thing.

Educational attainment measures how many years of school we completed or what degrees we earned. Literacy measures something different: our ability to understand information, evaluate arguments, recognize contradictions, weigh evidence, and apply what we learn to real-world decisions.

Recent national and international assessments found that nearly three in ten American adults now score at the lowest levels of literacy proficiency, a significant increase from just a few years ago. Even more concerning, literacy scores declined across every educational attainment level, including among college-educated adults. (Institute of Education Sciences)

Take a look at that again.  Literacy scores are declining across every educational attainment level.  That’s a cause for concern, because literacy matters for far more than reading books. It affects our ability to understand economic policy, healthcare proposals, foreign affairs, legal questions, scientific claims, and the endless stream of statistics and competing narratives that flood our news feeds every day.

Researchers define literacy not simply as reading words but as the ability to comprehend, evaluate, and use information. (APM Research Lab) This is where elections come in.  One recent study found that many ballot propositions are written at reading levels well above the abilities of large portions of the voting population. In fact, while 39% of adults have a high school education or less, nearly three-quarters of ballot measures were written above that reading level. (Sage Journals)

But the issue goes beyond ballot initiatives. Every election cycle we are asked to evaluate candidates making claims about taxes, healthcare, immigration, crime, education, government spending, foreign policy, and dozens of other complex issues. A healthy democracy does not require every citizen to be an expert. But it does require citizens who can ask questions, examine evidence, challenge their own assumptions, and look beyond slogans and talking points.

When literacy declines, public debate can become more emotional, more tribal, and more dependent on simple narratives that confirm what we already believe. The question is not whether people have the right to vote. They absolutely do. The question is whether we are doing the work required to be informed voters.

As we approach another election season, perhaps the most important civic question is not “Who are you voting for?” Perhaps it is: “How do you know what you know?”

I’d be interested in hearing what others think. Is America becoming better informed, less informed, or simply overwhelmed by the amount of information competing for our attention?

#GoodSense