Leaflets and Pamphlets

I wonder what is the most pervasive form of continuing education of the general population in present times. Apart from television and the Internet, dissemination of information and ideas is most widely carried out through leaflets and pamphlets. The printed book has now begun to occupy a hallowed place. Serious minded people seem to be the only ones who read the printed word in the book form. The less exalted ones read sign boards, glow signs, hoardings, and of course, leaflets and pamphlets.

These disparate sheets of colourful paper soom to have formed into a whole universe of knowledge and information. Whether one is attanding a charity lunch, an artist's exhibition, or sitting in a doctor's chamber, it is this form of media that one runs one eyse through. One reason is its size. Capsules charted out in bullet form, easy and quick to read, even easier to digest . Because no one has the time or the inclination to do the hard work and go through tomes to get the same amount of information.

Information - that is the buzzword. Rather than acquiring knowledge, an average person would rather acquire information. After all, knowledge is such a nebulous definition, without a beginning and an end. On the other hand, information has a clear cut outline, a finiteness at a moment of time. Doesn't matter if the same topic can keep on expanding as information about it gathers over research and accumulation of data over time.