"Contemporary society offers so many ways of learning that reading books is no longer very important."

The above statement implies that the author feels that reading as a form of learning is a dying trend. With the advancement of technology within the last few decades or so, many forms of educational tools have emerged. In the era of information overload, a person can learn from so many different mediums. Among them are the Internet and other various forms of media like the television and radio. Books are merely one of the contenders of being an educational tool. To say that reading books is no longer very important in this time and age is an erroneous one for modern mediums are unable to capture the abstract values of books. Also, not everybody has access to contemporary ways of learning.

Man have been recording information through writing for hundreds of years. The most primitive knowledge on astronomy are recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Laws were inscribed on great stone tablets during the Mesopotamian period. Great men like Sir Isaac Newton and Leonardo da Vinci have been recording their discoveries and ideas onto manuscripts that are passed down to future generations—us. Writing is one of the oldest ways to disseminate information. The creation of the movable printing press sped up the way literary material were produced and enabled the dissemination of information on a larger scale.

To claim that reading books is no longer very important is to say that historical and cultural values are worthless. Books and texts contain both historical and cultural values that cannot be replicated by modern mediums. The written word represent the collection of theories(proven and otherwise), ideas and perspectives of authors of past and the present. There are many classical texts that are preserved in their original form that are in existence today—many of which scholars still pore over and glean knowledge from. Innovations in technology has given the modern person the more options of learning but can it capture the essence of the abstract values? Take for example the Bible. The book itself represents a physical symbol of the Christian faith. Though the person might be able to fortify their knowledge through religious educational TV shows or Internet articles, ultimately reading the physical book carries the connotations of their faith and beliefs.

Another fallacy in the author's statement is this. The statement implies that everybody has access to contemporary learning tools. Let us take a look at the examples of modern forms of learning. In modernized societies, a person can learn from surfing the Internet highways or through virtual universities, or through listening to the news on the radio or on television. What about poorer societies out there that do not even have access to such amenities? Poor villages where educational opportunities are scarce and hard to come by. The issue of the 'digital divide' between the modernized societies and the ones that are less fortunate are very real and rampant. In such contexts, books might be the only and most feasible access to learning.

It is true that contemporary society has provided many ways for learning. However, it has not lessened the importance of reading books as a form of learning. Reading books—the more traditional way of learning is important for it imparts the historical and cultural values that cannot be duplicated by modern mediums. Also the function of books are still important in countries which do not have access to modern learning tools.