literacy
Lack of literacy prevents input of information in certain formats, like a PC without a microphone or a cell phone without a camera.
Example
If you can't read, you can't read what is written, so you can't know things until someone tells you verbally.
Inability to read English prevents them from reading correct technical documents written in English, and they search in Japanese and refer to appropriate blog articles written in Japanese
Inability to read mathematical formulas leads to an inability to understand mathematically well-defined concepts and to actively seek subtle explanations that are metaphorically explained in Japanese, which leads to incorrect understanding
By not being able to read simplified Chinese characters, one perceives a Chinese brochure written in simplified Chinese characters as being written in unreadable characters. If you can read simplified characters, you can read quite well with your knowledge of Japanese, even if your knowledge of Chinese is limited.
After I started making joints with a 3D printer, I found the structure of the clasp part of a plastic storage box from a 100 yen store very interesting.
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This page is auto-translated from /nishio/リテラシー. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I'm very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.