Consider This

"Consider an intelligence which, at any instant, could have a knowledge of all forces controlling nature together with the momentary conditions of all the entities of which nature consists. If this intelligence were powerful enough to submit all this data to analysis, it would be able to embrace in a single formula the movements of the largest bodies in the universe and those of the lighter atoms; for it, nothing would be uncertain; the future and the past would be equally present to its eyes"

John Gribbin

Physical Expansion

We turn to forms of media that allow us to live through bodies with greater physical potential. Video games, comic books, movies, etc. allow us to escape our own physical limitations. This is ironic though, because we must use our minds to imaginatively achieve this physical escape. This suggests that our minds are in fact the only limiting factor associated with physical limitations. If we were able to expand our minds to infinite potential, our bodies would follow.

Limitations

There are two types of limitations.

Physical:

Our bodies can learn just like our minds. Humans train their bodies through the repetition of a task. By repeating the same physical task over and over again, we become more efficient in the completion of the task. At a certain point however, our physical development is limited. For example, repeatedly jumping off a building and waving our arms will not teach us to fly. To expand our physical limitations we do this.

Mental:

Mental limitations are much harder to understand as it is rare that we face them. This is the reason that many humans dedicate their lives to learning. If we were ever able to reach and then expand our mental limitations to infinite potential, this would happen.

Knowledge

It is clear that each of the texts could be interpreted in different ways by different people. The reason for this is based on our fundamental cognitive development and our desire to learn. As humans, we are learning machines. We take things that are presented to us and somehow store them in our mental databases. The people that are most successful in our society however, are able to notice these inputs and connect them to previous inputs most effectively. Our success as humans is therefore based on our creative limitations (or our ability to connect new inputs with our previously stored inputs).

Factual

It is perfectly natural that this explanation of a common physical law inspired you to think about the absence of it. Without it, the world as we know it would be totally different. For you, the text was writerly as it inspired you to think beyond what was written.

Conversely, this text could have been readerly to someone else. It would also be natural for someone to read it and think just about the factual knowledge that was being imposed on them. This is how we learn.

What does this mean?

Story

It is perfectly understandable that this story taught you the importance of sharing. We are taught as children to look for morals in what we read. Your brain processed this story and it lead you to further thought. In that sense, the story was a writerly text.

Conversely, it is also possible that you read this story and took it for face value. You identified with the characters and merely thought about what was happening to them. In that sense, this text can also be readerly.

What does this mean?

Two

I agree with Barthes,  in that work that inspires thought in the reader's brain is much more valuable than work that merely injects knowledge into the readers brain. The problem that I have with his theory however, is that different works affect different people in different ways. Take for example two hypothetical texts: 

 

1) A children's book that depicts two boys who are friends, Jimmy and Brian. One day Brian's mom forgets to give him lunch to take to school. Jimmy knows that the amount of food that his mom packed for him is exactly how much food he likes to eat for lunch so he does not share with Brian. Brian goes hungry. The next day, Jimmy's mom forgets to pack his lunch. Brian knows that his lunch is the right amount of food for him so he does not share with Brian. Brian goes hungry. On the third day, both of their mothers forget to pack them lunch and they realize how badly each of them would like to have half of  a lunch.

 

2) A text that explains centrifugal force.

If text 1) taught you the value of sharing click here

If text 2) made you wonder what would happen if centrifugal force ceased to exist click here