A quiet crisis is transforming human civilization: the rapid death of reading and the rise of a "post-literate" society. With the average attention span shrinking to mere seconds, we talk to writer Ro
In today's fast-paced society, reading has become difficult. It is hard to slow down, stay quiet, and take the time to read. Additionally, hyper-productive lifestyles have increased anxiety, causing people to struggle when trying to focus on books or articles.
I remember reading Marshal McLuhan (probably The Medium is the Message) where he quotes Socrates saying that he is concerned about the new invention of writing that it would reduce our memories. (Since we wouldn’t have to remember a verbal culture’s long poems etc)
I suffered a stroke and lost the ability to read for more than a month. So take it from me when I say that reading is one of the greatest gifts you can ever receive.
In my childhood,nobody around me read any books. So i never knew the fun of reading. I discovered books in college when I was kind of in depression for a long time and i wanted to break through the vicious cycle.
Well, I read almost daily now. Sometimes a book a day. The best thing that has happened to me in a very long time is getting into the habit of reading.
It is kind of scary. Even at a more personal level, I can feel my ability to focus dwindled over the past few years
I read less, and by extension, I also struggle more to watch long form videos or conferences. And studying feels much harder
And this habit is unfortunately quite hard to fight against
I question what declining reading habits and decreased attention spans—a literal change in our cognitive abilities—means for the future of democratic governance. If the “average” citizen cannot comprehend complex ideas, how will voters make informed choices? I already see that many voters struggle with understanding policy and ideas during election cycles. This is one of my main concerns around this issue of declining human cognition.
The heart of the issue is the critical thinking that’s trained by literacy and knowledge. The education systems need to return a focus on textbooks and handwriting during the formative years, which forms the neural network to achieve “deep thought”. Whether or not people are reading books isn’t nearly as important as developing an interest in content that continues learning well after the brain has mostly developed.
I have to admit I was stunned (and appalled) when, after I gave my niece and nephew some books for Christmas, my sister informed me that Oh, they don't read. My nephew was in college at the time, my niece in high school. I was also quite saddened.
You can see it happening to Libraries. Libraries are no longer about books - people rarely go to libraries to obtain books. Libraries are now community centers, internet centers, third spaces where people do quiet work, or day shelters for homeless in many major urban areas.
I've been saying this for years .The Flynn effect is in reverse. Good to see some mainstream media finally pick it up. Just the thought of someone who's never read a book in their lives electing my politicians has been so discouraging, humiliating and depressing...
The lack of concentration is visible on the streets, quantity of people walking with this vague looking in their faces, people are having difficult paying attention on daily tasks.. having a dinner with friends and family, always there's someone on their phone.. scary
As a teenager in the 90s, going to the library was the peak of my existence. I spent so much time there, reading the magazines, chosing a book to take home, watching documentaries, listening to music I would probably never buy, just to expand my cultural knowledge. It was so exciting each time. And my summer holidays were spent in my room devouring books and re-reading my favorite ones over and over. How sad it must be to have a brain so zombified by social media, that you'll never knoe the pleasure of enjoying something so simple, yet so powerful.
The U.S. has already reached the 'idiocracy' phase. I work with the general public and alongside many young People, and I am constantly appalled at the lack of knowledge and intelligence many demonstrate.
Do you feel like your own reading has gone down with the rise of social media video content? When was the last time you bought or read a new book? Or an old one?
Social media is toxic to the human brain. The companies involved are fully aware of it, yet only care about profit. That is why they do nothing to make it less addictive.
I used to be an avid reader of books. Reading multiple books in one week's time. Then the advent of the smartphone. I've noticed and I'm glad it's being studied, my attention span decreased. I haven't touched a book in years. I still have books in the event that the internet were to go down. But I have not had any interest in books to purchase online. Even worse than that, I scroll. Less than 15 seconds of attention on any subject or video
I'm 70 years old so the better part of my life. I read books, articles in a newspaper or a magazine. It starts in our youth and the encouragement or insistance begins there. Another thing that alarms me, perhaps only in the USA, is the loss of instruction of cursive writing.
Neuroplasticity is really something we all need to be more aware of I think. I spent a year working a quite mind numbing job (spent a lot of time on my phone) and went back to education and it completely crippled my ability to focus on learning new things. I feel it coming back to me now but it was really scary if I'm honest. Our brains are amazing at both their ability to gain and lose skills.
Reading especially is a lot more than 'knowing what the words mean', it's about understanding context, nuance and the perspectives of others. It helps you spot lies and bias. You can really feel us losing a grip on that as a society.
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Well, I read almost daily now. Sometimes a book a day. The best thing that has happened to me in a very long time is getting into the habit of reading.
I read less, and by extension, I also struggle more to watch long form videos or conferences. And studying feels much harder
And this habit is unfortunately quite hard to fight against
I'm 70 years old so the better part of my life. I read books, articles in a newspaper or a magazine. It starts in our youth and the encouragement or insistance begins there. Another thing that alarms me, perhaps only in the USA, is the loss of instruction of cursive writing.
Reading especially is a lot more than 'knowing what the words mean', it's about understanding context, nuance and the perspectives of others. It helps you spot lies and bias. You can really feel us losing a grip on that as a society.