I think you're oversimplifying things. The "look and say" method has its advantages. It works for some people, and it doesn't work for others. For those it does work, it results in faster reading. In contrast, people who learn with phonics, develop a habit of sounding out words in their mind, which slows them down and is very difficult to break. I learned to read using phonics, and I had extreme difficulty when taking a speed reading class. My teacher said the vast majority who learned to read with phonics had the same problem, and few of us are ever able to catch up to "whole word" students in terms of reading speed.
I partcularly cursed the fact I was taught with phonics when I was in college; I went to a school with a "great books" program, where we had to read about a book a week. And not just any books; seriously heavy reading, like Plato's Republic and Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov. Some of my collegues who were taugh the "whole language" method finished their reading in about half the time, and had the same level of comprehension. And this was after I had taken a speed reading class!
Another problem with the phonics method is that English isn't a particularly phonetic language. The number of words whose spelling doesn't match the sound is staggering, which then makes spelling more difficult for children learn to read phonetically. In contrast, students who learn via the "look and say/whole word" method tend to memorize peculiar spellings much more quickly and easily.
The problem is that the "whole word" method doesn't work for everyone, but at one time schools implemented it as a as a one-size-fits-all method. Schools and parents should use whichever method works best for their kids.
The method that works for some and makes others illiterate is insanely stupid!
For those it does work, it results in faster reading.
Yes, and so is with the Chinese ideograms. This is the main limit for the cultural advancement in China. Few people can read more than a thousand of words and to master thousands you need to become a scholar. Anyway the ideograms are better suited for "look-and-say / whole-word" method as they derive from actual pictures. Making ideograms from combinations of letters is inferior.
Some people have better image memory and can read faster but those who could not are often more talented and do not deserve to be crippled.
In contrast, people who learn with phonics, develop a habit of sounding out words in their mind, which slows them down and is very difficult to break.
Well this is the difference between the true alphabet and ideograms. Once you associate letters or group of letters your can read almost EVERY word, even hundreds of thousands of words!
Same way is with musical notation - people who learned to associate notes with sounds can sing EVERY melody, not the few which they memorized by whole look.
Another problem with the phonics method is that English isn't a particularly phonetic language. The number of words whose spelling doesn't match the sound is staggering, which then makes spelling more difficult for children learn to read phonetically.
True, English is difficult in that aspect but there rules which are less numerous and easier that even basic few hundred Chinese characters. Once you master these rules your reading skill is unlimited. And even if you do not master all rules you still will manage well.
You can notice that foreigners do not have much problems with learning to read in English. Why, it is because they were not damaged or made "dyslexic" by the "look-and-say / whole-word" method. They know that letters stand for sounds from the start.
Some of my collegues who were taugh the "whole language" method finished their reading in about half the time, and had the same level of comprehension. And this was after I had taken a speed reading class!
Well, you can learn speed without regressing to the ancient ideograms. Same is with reading musical notation.