Oh, god I could go off on this for hours. I do science outreach in the Bible belt, astronomy mostly. But I do help explain physics to groups of adults as well. And I always end on "So now, why do we need to know this? Why do we care?" and ask the room for the why's.

The best ones are the evolution questions. Why do we need to know about evolution and genetics? because politicians are making laws based on this stuff. Having a surface level knowledge, that basic building block to go and google what they are saying and be able to tell woo from reality is what we need to prevent bad laws. (In theory).

Do you know what a GMO is? Do you, UNDERSTAND what a GMO is? Could you explain it to grandma? Could you explain it with humor and empathy when they start rattling on about what Uncle Harvey read on that one website?

I am literate. But I could not sit here an explain why Slaughterhouse 5 is an important book. I could not go into depth about why we still read and revere Shakespeare. But I can tell when I being trolled and messed with.

I also drive a car 20-30,000 miles a year. I can change oil and take it in for repairs when the engine light comes on. I have a base knowledge of how a car works, but if I ever had to fix one myself I'd be screwed.

The best example of what I am trying to convey is with computers. I try to educate people enough so that they develop a "Hey, wait a second here" response to when something is just... off. Teaching people how to use Adblock, for example. They don't know how it works, only that they don't get the weird popups and slowdowns any more. They don't know what Windows Updates are, only that they are important and I need to apply them. Is that enough to be literate? or do you need to be a programmer to claim that title?

I take the idea that "literate" is like a vaccine. You still get sick when vaccinated, but you don't get sick enough to spread the bad stuff to others. A little bit of education on how things work is all it takes to help people out in the end.