The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. Agree or Disagree?

 The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. Agree or Disagree?

Yes? 

• They will remain a burden on society due to not being able to generate any productivity. 

• Such people will be unable to negotiate even personal chores.

NO? 

These assumptions hold little water 

• Those unfamiliar with new techniques will be able to carry on with fundamental knowhow as these skills are foundations of advancements

The breakneck speed at which the technology is evolving has prompted many to firmly believe that everyone will need to embrace the change and those unable to relinquish their past knowhow and absorb new will be considered as lacking literacy. I will analyze this notion in the following paragraphs. 

To start with, this belief is founded on the assumption that those unprepared to integrate with the transforming paradigm that would require individuals to gain knowledge of modern methods and procedures, would find it hard to match the pace with the world, especially in the professional realms. This would deprive them of the opportunities to gain appropriately compensated employment, exposing them to a life of poverty. This section compares the plight of such people to their counterparts who were forced to survive on meager earnings, due to being uneducated, in the past centuries. Such people would become consumers of government grants rather than being contributors to the economy. 

On top of that, this school of thought also claims that the portion of the populace resisting revamping their skills and knowledge will face humongous challenges in their personal lives too; they will be overwhelmingly dependent on others such as their family members and friends to negotiate even their everyday chores like paying bills, banking, purchasing goods and communicating with their distant contacts. To  exemplify, even today, the elderly who are unfamiliar with modern devices and concepts cannot lead an independent life as they must rely on their children for everything, turning their life miserable.

Overall, thus, it can be safely asserted that those who lose the urge to abandon their inhibitions and get to terms with the contemporary skills and expertise will be the real illiterates and not those who cannot comprehend or create a written word.