3 ms·

Don't buy it at all. Global book market is healthy and as big as it ever was. Most of us a reading more in a day that even scholars did in a month two centuries

by tokai 2y ago

Don't buy it at all. Global book market is healthy and as big as it ever was. Most of us a reading more in a day that even scholars did in a month two centuries ago. It has never been more accessible to research any kind of subject and phenomenon than it is now. The article is rolling out the same old bourgeois doomsday theory people like Stefan Zweig and McLuhan subscribed to. Luckily the democratization of literacy or even leaving the medium of the book behind is the opposite of an issue.

ravenstine 2y ago
This is why my brain kind of short-circuits when I'm asked the question "do you like to read?" I know what most people actually mean by that, but my gears start turning because not only do I know that I read more than any of my ancestors. Reading is like breathing to me. I guess I do it out of leisure in a sense, but it's a way of life in many respects. Perhaps I don't read much fiction, but not a day goes by that I'm not cracking open an encyclopedia (aka Wikipedia), reading blog posts, investigating research papers, and reading some eBook I've stripped the DRM from on my Kobo. And I'm an oddball – so if I'm reading that much, then surely there are plenty of people out there reading stuff. I do sometimes wonder whether Gen Z and Alpha are even reading anything outside of school anymore, but that's probably more of that doomsday crap I'm prone to slipping into as I gradually become an old man.
- SeaGully 2y ago
  The boom of Romantasy seems to be attributed at least partially to GenZ. So depending on how you classify reading Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Romantasy GenZ is definitely still reading.
mmooss 2y ago
> It has never been more accessible to research any kind of subject and phenomenon than it is now. Absolutely - it's a miracle, almost. But relatively few people really do it because they are rarely pursuing truth. They are reading and watching misinformation and disinformation. > Global book market is healthy and as big as it ever was. Most of us a reading more in a day that even scholars did in a month two centuries ago. Enjoy yourself; still, most of that is social media and that's equating things based on their medium. It's like saying, 'I look at lots of paintings' when you're talking about your walls, because Jackson Pollack's art and your walls both use paint and some of it even splattered. Also among books, there are instant romances and On the Origin of Species and Analects. There's nothing wrong with the former, but the fact that they all share a medium is almost meaningless. > democratization I'm familiar with the expression, but I think it's an attempt by propagandists and nihilists to ennoble their work. It's 'democratization' that they can spread misinformation and disinformation. Social media is not comparable to books; it's professional media, only 100x worse.

by tokai 2y ago

ravenstine 2y ago

This is why my brain kind of short-circuits when I'm asked the question "do you like to read?" I know what most people actually mean by that, but my gears start turning because not only do I know that I read more than any of my ancestors. Reading is like breathing to me. I guess I do it out of leisure in a sense, but it's a way of life in many respects. Perhaps I don't read much fiction, but not a day goes by that I'm not cracking open an encyclopedia (aka Wikipedia), reading blog posts, investigating research papers, and reading some eBook I've stripped the DRM from on my Kobo. And I'm an oddball – so if I'm reading that much, then surely there are plenty of people out there reading stuff. I do sometimes wonder whether Gen Z and Alpha are even reading anything outside of school anymore, but that's probably more of that doomsday crap I'm prone to slipping into as I gradually become an old man.

SeaGully 2y ago
The boom of Romantasy seems to be attributed at least partially to GenZ. So depending on how you classify reading Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Romantasy GenZ is definitely still reading.

mmooss 2y ago

> It has never been more accessible to research any kind of subject and phenomenon than it is now. Absolutely - it's a miracle, almost. But relatively few people really do it because they are rarely pursuing truth. They are reading and watching misinformation and disinformation. > Global book market is healthy and as big as it ever was. Most of us a reading more in a day that even scholars did in a month two centuries ago. Enjoy yourself; still, most of that is social media and that's equating things based on their medium. It's like saying, 'I look at lots of paintings' when you're talking about your walls, because Jackson Pollack's art and your walls both use paint and some of it even splattered. Also among books, there are instant romances and On the Origin of Species and Analects. There's nothing wrong with the former, but the fact that they all share a medium is almost meaningless. > democratization I'm familiar with the expression, but I think it's an attempt by propagandists and nihilists to ennoble their work. It's 'democratization' that they can spread misinformation and disinformation. Social media is not comparable to books; it's professional media, only 100x worse.