How can the 3rd world go forward in terms of knowledge when Books are so expensive?

Question

I have been to a lot of places and let me use india and pakistan as examples. Browsing through bookshops in these countries i can tell you that books are out of reach to the average indian or pakistani.

Charles dickens ' oliver twist' costs 600 rupees in india and in pakistan it is 800 rupees. (dont forget that the average indian or pakistani earns only about 50 rupees a day)

when knowledge is beyond the reach of most people how can their brains evolve?

Answer 1

When their governments choose to spend less on arms and more on education. But an educated populace is a threat to tyrannical and authoritarian regimes, so perhaps a black market in books would serve the people well.

Answer 2

Firstly, let me reassure you that both India and Pakistan have a surfeit of affordable books (perhaps you looked at the more expensive versions). The real problem in South Asia is a highly stratified society, and it would be only a very small elite who would even enter a bookshop in their lifetime. The era of globalisation has further increased these gaps - between rich and poor, educated and uneducated, IT-savvy and IT-illiterate - to a disturbing degree. This is true in both India and Pakistan. Both countries need to cut defence expenditure drastically, and invest in universal education, health and nutrition. Otherwise they are doomed.

Answer 3

You don't need to read books to help your mind evolve. Of course it can speed up the process, but they aren't necessary. You can learn through experience, or from others passing down their knowledge. Books in essence are just guidelines, they don't flat out tell you the answers, they make you think and figure it out, and for there minds to expand they have to figure out a way to do that without books, or use a library if they have one.

Answer 4

I don't think the fact that you look like a sucker to the man in the bookstore means all 1.1 billion indian people can't buy books.

c'mon get a grip!

Answer 5

The reading of "Oliver Twist" isn't what made the so-called 1st and 2nd Worlds more industrialized than the so-called 3rd World. We are ALL Homo sapiens, OK... we all have the same brain size and capacity.

The nations of the so-called 3rd World need to have socio-politico-economic leaders who are willing to change their forms of government, etc. But of course the people have to agree to this too. It may be true that liberal-democracy is the best form of government that's been known to humans thus far, but one thing is for certain, we cannot have a Western government forcing our ideals on others. They must come to such conclusions intellectually, not from the point of view of a gun barrel.

This is a much more complicated situation than it appears "on the surface." One of the main reasons behind the fact that certain countries developed and others didn't, in the first place, has much to do with Geo-Environmental and Technological Determinism. For more insight on this may I recommend the book, "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond.

There's also a lecture by Joseph Campbell in the Mythos series in which he describes the difference of the life-cycles between Western cultures and others (particularly India) and how this relates to the differences in each ones socio-political traditions.

Answer 6

the internet will be free soon

Answer 7

It is the economy that dictates the price. The poorer the country is, the higher the  cost of materials, and in this case books. Books are very important for expanding one's knowledge. I believe the leader of our country should invest more on education. Literacy must be a high priority program of the government. I don't see why leaders failed to see the importance of education. The development of a country really depends how far their citizenry is educated. That's why it is a matter of campaign to allow are children to learn reading. Reading allows learnings. And learnings boost our knowledge. Ergo, knowledge is power. I agree with you then that books plays a vital role in expanding our knowledge. That's why i rely on book sale and choose the best book i could benfit from. It is a matter of being practical this day of hardships.

Thanks for asking. Have a great day!

Answer 8

write their own

I from a school where if your not taught then you teach yourself and live by your rules.

Answer 9

"The 3rd world" as you said.

Even so in the first place, are the people educated enough to buy books to read them and if so, what is the majority over the minority or vice-versa.

These people will just need to survive and forward themselves by observing, being street wise and learn when foreign investors are there.

Sometimes the sentence "the 3rd world" really makes me wonder whether our children born in this modern tech.[known as 1st world]  knows or ever watch how the chickens,pigs & etc  was traditionally manually slaughtered.