The main difference is that when "listening" most people here talk about doing it while doing something else. Whereas reading requires a person's vision to be

The main difference is that when "listening" most people here talk about doing it while doing something else. Whereas reading requires a person's vision to be focused on the book, and therefore precludes driving, and most other activities. The book therefore receives the readers full attention, it's not background music to the commute. The difference in attention is significant. Given all of that, I don't think the "reading a book" metric is really significant in measure how thoughtful society is, given that most books mentioned here are vacuous make believe. Entertainment is fine, but reading "Pink Unicorns Fly Through Hyperspace" isn't expanding anyone's awareness of the world.