That makes a good set of examples right there. One with teachers that probably actually taught thinking skills and one that sounds like they had Cliff-note teachers. You both obviously like to read or you wouldn't be here. And I will lay safe odds that, amazingly, you both have access to modern electronic media and entertainment yet you STILL read.

(Hmmm, sorry. I think we will have to throw your data out since it must be in error. It doesn't match the rest of the study.)

It does seem that people who read at a formative age do so in spite of the best efforts of the educational system. Then they carry that same disdain of reading through their young adult years and on into the rest of their lives. The genuine readers are usually bright enough to find stimulation in the printed word and (as in the case of TM2) keep it even against the forces of the mundane.

Could it be that with the way things stand now the people who present all these "authoritative" reviews and studies are the same ones who made it through the "accepted way-only way" schools of thought and did so not for the love of the word but the love of, well, getting though school? These seem like the same people who consider graduating from an institution more important than learning anything at said hallowed halls.

Side thoughts on professional experts:
One of my uncles travels a lot. Businessman, mid-level. Knowledgeable enough to be needed in various branches of the company to train, troubleshoot and setup operations all around the world. He is a nice man, a smart fellow and generally up on things. Most of the family as well as the company he works for consider him to be an expert on world travel and treat him as the go-to guy for touring. This is something he takes pride in and also considers himself to be the expert. His self-confidence in his knowledge is strong enough that he automatically considers any differing opinion or point "naive" at best, "outright stupid" at worst.

The problem is when he travels to all those countries, to all those cities, it's always directly to where he must do what it is he must do. Leave home, ride plane to destination, go to factory, branch or seminar, get back on plane, return home. See the problem? Yes, he has flown to many wonderful countries and been to many far away cities but he never really traveled anywhere and, in fact, hates traveling! But he is considered the expert on travel (as opposed to what he IS an expert on: getting to and from destinations).

How many experts are like my uncle? Considered experts due to having the end credentials but not any of the things they should know and understand that comes with working you way through the middle? (Such as coming back from Thailand having only eaten in the hotels McDonalds and complaining about how badly the English spoken was by some of the taxi drivers he had to use. Or after having used a reader for 30 minutes complaining of how the ingrained habits of years didn't work with the reader they were testing.)

"Experts" are nice and if you find ones you can trust, great. But the majority of us will find that the best "experts" are the ones who aren't. The most useful information and reviews come from the ones whose opinions count the least. Us and people like us.

Think about it. Most of us with readers spent months looking, comparing, waiting for one that suited our needs. Some have gone though several, some found theirs on the first shot. The experts usually spend less than a few hours and often admit right at the start they weren't going to like it, going into the process the same way a tyke approaches beets (I'll eat it but I'll hate it).

We're the ones who spend the time learning about the things we're interested in. The good things, the bad things, the things that would prevent us from enjoying them and the things that make it desirable to get them. The parts we enjoy and find useful, we share. The parts not so useful, we warn about. Hit up the books section and you find books that have been edited, formatted and presented not out of profit but love of books. Look and you'll see tools, manuals, tutorials, tips, work arounds, deals. All of it free. Because we're not experts. We just love reading. We love our gadgets but do so because of what they give us, not the gadget themselves. (Well, except for my Gundam pencil sharpener. That's cool!)

So....what does that makes us?

Condensed Version:
Experts are like call girls. For the right price, they'll tell you anything you want to hear.