Posted on 02/26/2025 4:05:36 AM PST by karpov
Gone are the days when reading a book was the preferred means to knowledge, replaced by the rapid consumption of digital media and the allure of screen-based entertainment. This phenomenon is growing in America, and it is pronounced among our youth.
One consequence is that we appear to be reading less these days, and while our attention span does not (yet) rival that of the much-maligned goldfish (eight seconds), it is getting discernibly shorter.
First, is this thinking true? And, second, do our technological gadgets predispose us to this phenomenon? Are we sacrificing something important, turning from books to bots? The truth is in the numbers.
The research suggests that we read less and less about more and more, moving rapidly from one topic to another within shorter and shorter time increments. And our technological prowess (especially our beloved smartphones) is fostering this, along with attention spans that are shrinking as we “speak” (or, in our case, read).
More and more Americans are not reading books. Nearly half of all U.S. adults (46 percent) did not read a book in 2023. That continues a 10-year trend reflecting serious deterioration in our reading habits.
With the advent of the Internet, Americans seem to be reading more, but not necessarily with depth; books no longer seem to be a primary source of our “edification.” And the problem is not limited to our adult population.
Indeed, there appears to be a generational shift in the reading habits of young people, including some from Gen Z who don’t view reading as important at all.
Social psychologist Jean Twenge offers perspective on “Gen Z,” those born between 1996 and 2010. “Zoomers,” as they are sometimes called, grew up with the Internet and smartphone.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
It’s illiteracy, stupid!
First it they couldn’t read cursive. Now they can’t read at all.
The heavy use of electronics rewires the brain. My understanding is that the brain becomes so habituated to the rapid fire input and then everything at normal speed becomes boring to people.
I’ve heard TV referred to as the plug in drug. And I would throw in the internet, too.
I still love to sit down with a good book, however.
Always enjoyed reading, Sherlock Holmes was my first book. My aunt was a teacher and lived only a block away, she taught me to read before 1st grade.
I enjoy the radio more now, many sites have old radio stories, Mystery Theatre from the 70s, Sherlock Holmes from the 40s and 50s, Orson Wells. More classic authors also being read, by AI. Great stuff.
BTTT
A fascinating 11 minute video on why people have stopped reading by YouTuber Jared Henderson...
https://youtu.be/A3wJcF0t0bQ?feature=shared
Well worth the watch.
Pay special attention to the bit on reading stamina.
TL;DR
The Adventure of The Speckled Band is my favorite.
If you stop reading books it’s your own darn fault.
All true. Along with that is the modern concept of an inbox. Social media, in a way, is kind of like going back to newspapers being the first thing people see to know what's going on. The ones who controlled the newspapers were the ones who controlled at least people's first impressions of the day.
Today, people in multiple generations are used to looking first at what's in their electronic "feed". In earlier days of the internet, before social media became a thing, people were more inclined to search for other opinions and other news sources. Now, lots of people have their favorite social media apps, each with a main "feed" or "inbox" type push to receive seemingly "news" type "information" as much as the user sees personal communications from friends. Enough so that a lot of people are too lazy to look up news from other sources besides what they've been wired to believe is the only sources they need.
Most people just want the summary and/or conclusions. They don’t want to reason it out for themselves. The problem is they are subject to bias and deception.
The only room in my house without any books is the bathroom and that’s only because of the steam.
Many of my fellow millennials have no books at all, and a few say they’ve never read one.
Meanwhile my parents have many thousands of books; they used to keep an inventory but in the past few years they simply photograph the shelves. When I need a particular book it’s quicker to go to them, rather than Google. “Yeah, we got that.” (I also hear a review I can trust.)
I still have my cards to get into the Library of Congress, Princeton’s Firestone Library, and a few other good resources, just in case. :)
Me too!
I do have an addiction to authoring software; and, that is like an addictive drug. I started programming in 1967 an have been doing that with intensity ever since.
used to read a fair amount. Now the only reading I do is referring to past books I have read and reference material.
Part of the reasons for reduced reading is the internet habit but also reduce eyesight quality do to age takes the enjoyment out of reading.
Parents should ban smartphones until their kids get a job and they can pay for the cell phone bill themselves.
My wife and I have almost 8,000 actual books and several hundred more on Kindle. We keep Excel files for the bound books, very useful to avoid buying duplicates. Still have to build shelves for about 2,000 books after moving to this house a few years ago, but there always seems to be other work that comes first.
Steam in the bathroom is a problem, true, but the Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers hold up well.
Oh, MY
In 1989, I was in the People’s Republic of San Francisco State University. It was the last semester of my undergraduate degree. During the previous semester I was told there was one requirement that I had not fulfilled. A writing/essay course. Even though I had been writing papers for years, this class was one of the unavoidable requirements. Since I already enjoyed writing, I just took a positive attitude and enrolled.
Most of the other students in this class were much younger than my 35 years. I had left college previously, and returned to finish undergrad and pursue graduate school. I was amazed, and perhaps appalled, as some in the class were struggling with basic grammar. Forget paragraph and essay structure. Some of them had trouble with subject and verb. Direct and indirect objects might as well been Martian.
The professor was really very good, but she had been teaching so long, she could not, or would not, address the gaps in these students writing abilities. I ended up helping quite a few after class. Some got it, others did not. If this was happening in 1989, I can only imagine what it is like now.
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