Irving Finkel

It's a bit like that.

People use the electronic world like an addictive drug and they can't get through without it.

And I think this is a very recent thing, but I suppose it's not I'm a Luddite and say we shouldn't have railway engines and we shouldn't have kettles.

But I think

And one of the things about the ancient world was that people never went anywhere, unless they were merchants or soldiers.

They never went anywhere.

Probably people born and died in a village, and then their children born and died in the village, and they never knew anything about the outside world.

Maybe very little.

Sometimes there'd be a message, but in principle, they had no idea about other countries, other languages.

or how big they were on it.

So I don't think they had wisdom in a way that you could type out following precepts will make life better.

Because they told lies and they esteemed the truth and they fell in love and they committed adultery and they did murder and they did all the things.

I think in a way the ancient world allowed human beings to behave more naturally than it does now.

the world in which we live.

I mean, if you do live in a rustic environment or by the sea or you're a fisherman, I mean, all those normal, real kind of things, then it's probably all right.

But most people who live crammed in the cities live a very, very artificial life where the principles which they regard as ineluctably crucial are not ineluctably crucial.

They're not in

You know, one example is this ghastly thing on mobiles where you get a short clip from a real program.

I think it's utterly, utterly wicked.

So you have children all over the world who cannot articulate, spell, or make meaning clear using the best, most literary and most beneficial language that's ever been created, which is English, to save their lives.