Reading is Fundamental

I like to think that I'm a pretty bright M.F. One thing I think has helped with that is that I read a lot. More importantly, I read a lot during the formative years. A great side-affect of all that reading is that I've got a pretty decent vocabulary. It's not often that I come across a word I don't know, or at least can't comfortably figure out via context clues.

Well, today I was stumped, ladies and gentlemen.

I was reading this post on the Ideafestival website. The post talks about a magazine article, which discusses a book that submits a theory about video games being engaging, engrossing, entertaining, and perhaps even intellectual because they force players to solve complex logic and reasoning problems and players may even end up employing the scientific method in their quest to complete a game...rather than just being a mindless slack-jawed waste of time. It's a pretty decent read.

BUT, that's not the point. The point is that this quote from the magazine article:

Since the publication [of Everything Bad is Good for You] in 2005, [Steven] Johnson's argument in favour of what he labels the "Sleeper curve"—the steadily increasing intellectual sophistication of modern popular culture—has become something of a shibboleth for futurologists.

Like I said...stumped me.

What does "shibboleth" mean?

Well, we all know what I did next, right?

So, a shibboleth is something that a certain group of folks LOVES to talk about - that in the long run either doesn't mean anything or doesn't mean anything to any other groups of people, or both.

Like people who went to North Carolina A&T and this whole "Aggie Pride" thing, or George Bush supporters and the idea of his administration somehow being a good thing for this country.

Know What I'm Sayin'??