One More Thing to Worry About; We Don’t Read Like We Used To

PeruginiWe all know that smart phones make for dumb people, right? Here’s more proof; our ability to read deeply is in grave, grave danger. If you’re reading this on a screen (which unless you have the super-rare and highly prized hand-written, signed original, you probably are) then you’re probably scanning for exciting words (good luck!) and getting ready to bounce to some other page, or check your email, or send a text, or whatever. There might even be some intriguing beeps, buzzes, or vibrations notifying you that there’s probably more interesting stuff going on elsewhere. According to recent research, digital reading changes your reading habits, inhibiting “deep reading.” Some studies have also indicated that traditional reading on paper is more conducive to comprehension, this despite the test subjects’ impressions to the contrary!

We can all relate. When you’re perusing the internet there is such a mind-boggling glut of content,  most of it terrible, that we all learn to skim and jump around, seeking only the tastiest morsels that can hold our attention for a few seconds, long enough to glean some wise, amusing, or curious content. These researchers contend that these kinds of reading habits carry over and contaminate our enjoyment (and comprehension) of say, a novel. It’s also suggested that young folks, raised in cyberspace and whose reading development was suckled with digital content, might never develop the ability to read deeply.

It strikes me that this is more alarm-ism, the natural reaction to such quickly paced change. Do people read screen-content differently than books? Yes. Is there some difficulty switching from one type of reading to the other? Seemingly so. Are we doomed to an impoverishment of our literary appreciation? Yeah, maybe. Kidding! We are not the victims of technology. We are reading differently, for a different purpose, and with different benefits, but as long as people want to sit down with James Joyce and savor the richness of literary expression, deep reading will not be lost. As long as English majors and true romantics do not fall victim to the natural selection of social Darwinism we’ll have bespectacled deep readers reading deeply. As the researchers keep telling us the human brain is plastic, and that works both ways; we may get into the habit of superficial skimming and scanning for cheap mental stimulation, but as long as we keep in practice we can still read deeply. Not to worry: when technology threatens to destroy our minds there will be researchers to warn us by posting alarming online content that catches our eye. 😉

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