The reason why the best books are more than simply stories

The reason why the best books are more than simply stories

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The world today is built upon a practically incomprehensible amount of understanding that has actually been passed down in books.

It is very important to bear in mind that, although a lot of the best modern books of all time tend to be considered as ground-breaking works of fiction, for the majority of humanity's literary history, we did not write much fiction at all. Most stories would have been sung throughout the great majority of history, simply because the vast majority of people could not read, meaning that many books were specialised things meant for those few who could understand them. After a brief boom during the classical era of antiquity, the amount of literate individuals dropped dramatically during the Middle Ages. Books became uncommon treasures, with monks fastidiously copying out the enduring timeless texts by hand so as to maintain them, as they were a few of the only members of the population who were able to read or write. They were the expert keepers of knowledge like biology and religious beliefs that we all have access to in the modern world.

It can be hard to envision what the world would resemble today if the huge bulk of individuals were not able to read, but for the vast majority of history the huge bulk of individuals could not, and nor were books accessible even if they could. It was the innovation of the printing press towards the close of the 15th that changed that, making books much more accessible. Naturally, it was still just truly the richest and well-educated that could read or write, but it made it possible for an entire host of developments in science, art, and thinking to be spread out across great distances. Consider what would have happened if the theory of gravity, or of evolution, could not have actually been dispersed around the world. Human civilisation rests upon a foundation of books, and we are lucky to be able to merely log onto a site like the one backed by the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books, and easily access the totality of human understanding.

With such an abundant history of ideas, events, and stories right at our fingertips, it's often simple 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 huge percentage of all the books that have ever been written (or the good ones at the very least). The best books of all time can quickly change the way that you take a look at the world, which has held true throughout all of history too. The contemporary world is built upon understanding that has been passed down through books, whether that is ideology, 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.