There is illiteracy, which is lacking the ability to read, there is reading and not understanding what you are reading, there is reading and understanding the face value of the material, and there is reading with inference and insight into the mind of the writer.
Having the ability to read and not understanding what you are reading can also be considered to be illiteracy. There are many cases where people may be illiterate. Illiteracy is frequent even among those who consider themselves to be experts of their subject, as can be seen with several examples of knowledge that are professed but are not valid. Some of these examples are noted in the articles of this website.
Another level of reading is reading and understanding the face value of the material. This can be done by plain reading, cramming, or memorizing information.
A deeper inspection into the writing leads us to expand our scope of understanding into looking through the lens of the writer. Reading with insight and inference into the mind of the writer can help us see the writing strategy of the writer as well as to comprehend the author's understanding of the subject at hand. The power of inference can be used to obtain additional information by seeking to understand the author's intentions, goals, persuasion techniques, preferences, etc...
For example: We can infer that the doctor used long-term interview processes to extract the information that is given to us about the patients if we read that the details of the patient's life history were recorded.
In school, there is cramming to pass the test, and there is studying the material by giving it serious consideration.
© 2021 Hazon, Nir
