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Reading is definitely a skill that atrophies without use. We're all reading more than ever - but short chunks, or dense but linear technical work (like scientif
by dbspin 3y ago
Reading is definitely a skill that atrophies without use. We're all reading more than ever - but short chunks, or dense but linear technical work (like scientific papers or business texts). Reading fiction or dense non fiction (philosophy, heavier sense textbooks) requires the kind of sustained relaxed attention that does seem intuitively to be diminished by both lack of practice, and social media use. I'm trying to build the habit again, as I find my own capacity to follow through with creative ideas and work are pretty directly linearly correlated with how much deep reading I'm doing.
- cpach 3y agoI relate to this, a lot. I used to be quite an avid book reader. These days, I find it very hard to focus when reading books. The allure of hypertext is just so tempting.
- jonhohle 3y agoThis seems like a quote that would be pulled into an article 40 years from now about how quaint we all were in the past.
- cpach 3y agoNot sure what you mean. I don’t know if we where morally superior in the past. But our media consumption sure was different. For better or worse. Also, I am definitely not the same person today that I was at 25. Perhaps I had a greater thirst for knowledge when I was younger…? At least the thirst was different than it is today. I also didn’t have three kids, and because of that fact I had a lot more spare time than I have today (:
- 2devnull 3y agoPoetry and philosophy seem to be good at snapping my mind back out of web reader mode. The Bible too, but that’s sort of philosophy-poetry (or poetry-philosophy if you prefer).