The OECD survey condemns us: Italy is in the last places in Europe for reading comprehension and calculation ability, with over a third of adults who are in fact “functionally illiterate”. This expression was coined by UNESCO in 1984 and identifies “the condition of a person incapable of understanding, evaluating, using and being involved in written texts to actively intervene in society, to achieve their objectives and to develop their knowledge and potential ”.

Our school system

Not only that, again from the aforementioned survey it emerged that almost half of the Italian population has great difficulties in problem solving, a skill considered key to their psychological and social functioning. But how did we end up in this situation? Our school system is obviously the first defendant. Even today, debate on current issues is still struggling to enter Italian classrooms: the greatest tool available to the human mind for developing argumentative skills and critical thinking. Instead, mnemonic and coercive study is still preferred, based on the fear of punishment (a negative vote or a note), rather than on real interest in the subject. All this will have the result of favoring the passivization of the individual, who will consequently also be less incentivized to open up to alternative interpretations of reality. In essence, today’s teaching, despite all the attempts at modernization, continues to encourage the student to become stuck, who will also become an adult who is not very curious and lazy in learning, with also a greater risk of ideologization and polarization.

Nobody gets to the bottom

If you are reading this article, for example, you are among the few who have not stopped at the title. According to a study published by the Minnesota Academy of Science and Art, over 70% of users who view content online, particularly on social media, don’t even read the description of the post. This also explains why the most impactful figures in online newspapers are now not the big names, the great editorialists, as in the past, but are the headline writers. But if this is a global trend, Italy seems to be in an even worse situation. According to what was published by Istat, two out of three Italians do not read even one book a year, while in Northern and Central Europe the percentage of readers is close to or exceeds 90%.

We read very little

It is estimated that over the last thirteen years our country has lost an average of 630 readers per day. On the other hand, we write a lot of books, with 1.7 titles published for every 1,000 inhabitants: a constantly growing number, it’s a shame that 30% of these don’t even sell a single copy (Nomisma study). Most publishing houses keep themselves alive thanks to paid publishing, that is, I publish the book to you, not because I consider it valid, but simply because you, the author, immediately undertake to buy me a pre-established number of copies, which then you will keep in the attic or sell to friends and relatives. The only books that really sell are those published by influencers, they are often poor in terms of content.