The way great books influenced human advancement

The way great books influenced human advancement

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Our capability to access and read books has actually been definitely vital to our ability to comprehend the world around us.

It can be tough to imagine what the world would resemble today if the huge majority of people were unable to read, but for the huge majority of history the large bulk of individuals could not, and nor were books accessible even if they could. It was the development of the printing press towards the close of the 15th that changed that, making books much more available. Naturally, it was still only really the wealthiest and well-read that could read or write, but it allowed an entire host of developments in science, art, and thinking to be spread across great distances. Consider what would have occurred if the theory of gravity, or of evolution, could not have actually been dispersed across the globe. Human civilisation rests upon a foundation of books, and we are lucky to be able to just log onto a site like the one backed by the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books, and quickly access the totality of human knowledge.

It is essential to bear in mind that, although a lot of the best modern books of all time tend to be regarded as ground-breaking works of fiction, for most of humankind's literary history, we did not compose much fiction at all. The majority of stories would have been sung throughout the great bulk of history, simply since the large bulk of individuals might not read, meaning that many books were specialised things meant for those few who might comprehend them. After a quick boom throughout the classical era of antiquity, the amount of literate individuals dropped significantly throughout the Middle Ages. Books ended up being uncommon treasures, with monks fastidiously copying out the enduring classic texts by hand so as to preserve them, as they were some of the only members of the populace who could read or write. They were the specialist keepers of knowledge like biology and religious beliefs that we all have access to in the contemporary world.

With such a rich history of ideas, events, and stories right at our fingertips, it's in some cases easy to forget how extremely lucky we are to have the likes of the founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones or the CEO of the asset manager with a stake in Amazon books supporting access to a big proportion of all the books that have ever been written (or the good ones at least). The best books of all time can easily change the way that you look at the world, which has actually held true throughout all of history too. The modern-day world is built on understanding that has been passed down through books, whether that is philosophy, science, or history, and human civilisation would not be anywhere near as advanced as it is today if it had not been for the books that changed minds across the ages.