One interesting response to this piece is the number of people who have told me that the Dickens passage American university students were unable to understand in the famous study of reading comprehension is absurdly difficult. I really don’t think it’s that hard. https://t.co/a3lVVFCzbQ pic.twitter.com/gZLPdhDJWy
— James Marriott (@j_amesmarriott) September 23, 2025
That is an extremely easy passage, I agree. In a normal world I’d consider that to be what 4th-6th graders should be able to handle.
We do not live in that world.
There is just nothing very complex or intellectually challenging there, especially if you can use Google. That university students in the US cannot make sense of it is fucking appalling and an indictment of us all.