So Many Books, So Little Time

“The book is a portable collection of written ideas, designed to elevate the human mind beyond its natural limits of experience, memory, distance, and; it; it's a vessel for numbers, narratives, laws, and lyrics; It facilitates history, politics, philosophy, religion, science, and self-discovery; it enshrines traditions while providing direction as they shift and grow; It informs the ignorant, reminds the learned, travels far, and cheats death.”

– The Idea Machine

Books were the main impetus for the drastic increase in literacy.  Even as recently as the late 19^th century, literacy rates were barely 20 percent of the population, as book learning was primarily an elite activity.  Today, the global literacy rate has skyrocketed to nearly 90 percent, as mass distribution and mass education brought books to the hoi polloi. 

In Joel J. Miller’s 2025 book, “The Idea Machine”, Miller reveals how books became the engine of change in the world, not only as they improved literacy rates, but also as they improved the condition of humankind as ideas were developed, expanded, and spread over time.  Reading was initially limited to the wealthy, which led to greater intelligence and a deeper understanding of the world for a few, with the transmission of ideas extending from one generation to the next.   

Ideas were initially spread by word of mouth before the advent of books, which were often read aloud to the public by experts for mutual understanding.  Beyond an individual's direct experience, books enabled mass understanding of others' lives, leading to concern over human rights.

Books were first formed from bark, leaves, clay tablets, waxen boards, and eventually papyrus, parchment, and paper.  Before the invention of the printing press, books were painstakingly reproduced by hand-copying, preventing mass distribution.  Then, with the formation of grammar schools and universities, mass book learning caused an explosion in reading and literacy.    

While books initially contributed to an individual's education, they also deepened the emotional resonance of events occurring at the time.  This led to an acceleration of tolerance and free speech.  That is, as books spread ideas, a feedback loop emerged in which differing opinions sparked discourse, and additional books corrected the errors of others.  Rather than suppressing one book’s ideas, competing books instead fostered an ongoing dialogue over the issues of the day.

But mass distribution of books led to many fears over their power to change hearts and minds.  Many feared that competing information would erode traditional authority, and customs and norms would be compromised.   Mostly, many feared that books would allow for the mass distribution of dissident ideas that could not be contained. 

The invention of books also brought about the need for book burning, book banning, and censorship.  In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony had enacted a law banning the printing of any book that did not receive prior approval by the governing authority.  A few years later, also in Massachusetts, the first book ban in the United States in 1637 was Thomas Morton’s book, “New English Canaan”, a story about the poor treatment of Native Americans at the hands of the Puritan government.  Book bans were used to protect people from offensive ideas.  They were also used to control ideas and, when necessary, to destroy them through book burning as the ultimate means of censorship. 

Since reading is an individual sport, with each reader prewired with their own perspective, reading was the ultimate activity for the New World.  With books aiding in the rise of an educated population, the individualistic feature of America’s founding was preserved.