Summary Of Gee's Misinterpretation Of Literacy

Is there a misinterpretation of literacy? In Gees chapter the literacy myth and history of literacy he describes that the literacy myth is that being literate makes one smarter, more modern, and civilized. Being able to read and write are the only things that make people smart. In this chapter, Gee explains that being “smart” or literate does not add up to one’s personal value by explaining the differences and similarities between power and literacy, he gives examples of people who are illiterate but very intelligent, and giving us statistics, research and evidence.
Gee tells us he believes that someones value is not at all defined by how well they read or write. “Plato believed that his writings should by and large be restricted to his own
inner circle of students and followers. Second, it appears he may not have actually written down his most serious thoughts, but only spoken them (none of his dialogues contain a discussion between two equally mature philosophers). And, finally, he built into his written dialogues various layers of meaning such that his texts announce their deeper message only to those readers skilled enough to find it” (52). Gee tells us that Plato played a large part in making sure that his writings could be read by those who were worthy enough to read them. This helps show that being illiterate does not mean that you do not have value or worth because, Plato made himself the judge of who was worthy enough to read his work.