The Reading Crisis Is Also a Crisis of Formation

Greg Twemlow explores the reading crisis as a fundamental failure in human formation, arguing that literacy is essential for developing personal agency and judgment. He introduces the Expression-to-Agency Pathway, which uses storytelling, peer rehearsal, and public presentation to help students gain confidence through lived experience. While artificial intelligence did not cause these educational issues, it can conceal the problem by producing high-quality work that masks a person's lack of true understanding. Twemlow contends that without mastering literacy, individuals risk becoming dependent on technology, ultimately losing their cognitive sovereignty. To prevent this, he advocates for educational methods that ensure humans remain the source of meaning and take full accountability for their work. Read the article.About the Author - Greg Twemlow writes and teaches at the intersection of technology, education, and human judgment. He works with educators and businesses to make AI explainable and assessable in classrooms and boardrooms — to ensure AI users show their process and own their decisions. His cognition protocol, the Context & Critique Rule™, is built on a three-step process: Evidence → Cognition → Discernment — a bridge from what’s scattered to what’s chosen. Context & Critique → Accountable AI™. © 2025 Greg Twemlow. “Context & Critique → Accountable AI” and “Context & Critique Rule” are unregistered trademarks (™).