Dear Humans,

This world offers us lots of shortcuts. Just ask ChatGPT or Alexa or Siri. Don’t work hard and get a job–AI’s gonna take them all anyways!–become an influencer and post something that goes viral. Hit the parlay. Get the big score. To do the hard work of learning things, this world tells us, is for suckers. 

But I assure you it’s not. Some days it’s hard to envision much of a future, but if we have any hope for one, we’re going to need people who know things. Things like multiplication tables, names on the map, dates and facts of history. Things you learn from reading books. Not so we can compete against the machines, but because learning those things makes us more human.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt