RE: They don’t want a nation of critical thinkers.
Well, they got their wish.
Line I heard on TV: One who does not cling to something cannot truly lose it. Buddha said that. Or, maybe it was Taylor Swift.
Reading At Risk
A Survey of Literary Reading in America. Census Bureau, Nat. Endowment for the Arts.
The percentage of adult Americans reading literature has
dropped dramatically over the past 20 years.
■ Less than half of the adult American population
now reads literature.
■ The 10 percentage point decline in literary
reading represents a loss of 20 million potential
readers.
The report can be summarized in a single sentence: literary reading in America is
not only declining among all groups, but the rate of decline
has accelerated, especially among the young.
Reading a book requires a degree of active attention and
engagement. Indeed, reading itself is a progressive skill that
depends on years of education and practice. By contrast,
most electronic media such as television, recordings, and
radio make fewer demands on their audiences, and often
require no more than passive participation.
