Why We Can't Read Anymore

[@GusKein]

Thanks for all your hard work. You are an inspiration and challenge us to reach beyond our comfort zones to read things that we would not normally consider or think 🎉about. Great job, Brock!

[@Johanna_reads]

Excellent video, Brock! "Whether a book is boring or entertaining becomes secondary to how it enables you to grow as a person." Beautifully said! The literacy problem has many components, but I agree that delayed gratification is a profound and highly undervalued game-changer.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Thanks Johanna! I agree, the literacy issue is tricky, but the behavioral side of things might be even harder to correct

[@gabrielalfaia8154]

It's not only "short form vs "long form". When you get out of a good book it's almost like waking up to a dream. There's a fullness that you feel that is contrasted with the emptiness of stop scrolling tiktok and asking "what did i do for the last 5 hours", and in the next day you can't even remember. In short, when you experience art you live more, when you go for dopamine you live less.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Great point. Time wasted vs what’s gained during a reading session

[@tobefreecollective]

Really enjoyed this video. I just started reading “Amusing Ourselves to Death” which explores the thesis that Brave New World is a more accurate depiction of where our society is headed rather than 1984. I was born in 1996 and I’m grateful to have grown up at a time where I was able to explore my childhood with minimal technology and it’s been very interesting watching how phones have taken over many of our lives. I’ll be honest that it really hurts my heart to see young children glued to iPads, unable to even make eye contact or interact with the outside world. I know I struggle with phone addiction still so I can’t imagine how it will be for the children that grow up now not knowing a world without it. My friend told me about this girl on booktok that was saying she only reads dialogue in books or skips entire sections if the paragraphs are too long. I hate to be pessimistic but I genuinely worry for the future if no one is able to think for themselves or explore ideas outside of social media.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I’ve heard/seen the same. Patience seems to be a virtue that fewer and fewer possess - somewhat understandably so in a society that moves so fast as DFW articulated

[@cathyaten9279]

Hi, another teacher here, I teach 5th and 6th grade. I agree with what you said about the current state of kids and reading, and the reasons why, although the one piece I think you missed is that it is also generational, my students parents in general don’t read either, so they do not learn to love to read at home either as earlier generations did. I have actually been pretty successful with teaching kids to enjoy reading and to be able to focus better. Not 100% of course, but students leave my classroom able sit quietly and read a book for 30 minutes and look forward to it every day in class. Long explanation how, can’t type it all here, but would love to discuss because I do think influencers like you are an important part of trying to help close our literacy gap. I will be retiring soon, and I want to help with this as it is definitely something that keeps me up at night.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I completely agree. Unfortunately there are a lot of contributing factors and I chose to kept this part short, but the generational component is key. I grew up in a household that rarely read and certainly not avidly or deeply. Grateful for what you do as a teacher!

[@josa720]

Let's not let the publishers off of the hook. I read non-fiction, and it's very rare that I come across something that couldn't have made a decent, 10-page magazine article in The Atlantic. In order to justify the $30 price tag and front table space at B&N, however, these glorified magazine articles are stretched into repetitive and padded, 320-page, expensive hard cover books. Wide spaced, large font, etc.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Great point

[@EdwardHaas-e8x]

Yeah I've often run into nonfiction books that are basically padded articles! Great ones perhaps, but still. I'd read a popular book like Guns, Germs and Steel or The Better Angels of Our Nature (going back to the earlier 2000s) and be discussing it completely with people a lot smarter than me who'd already read the whole thing and several other books by the same authors when I was only 1/4 of the way through! I've also read really high quality records of a nonfiction book in a smart magazine (or maybe interviews with the author), gone on to read the book and learned little extra LOL I've even

[@josa720]

@@EdwardHaas-e8x I think a lot of self-help books and memoirs fit this "glorifies article" category. Maybe narrative history too. But the only way to get it on the front table of Barnes and Nobles or the home page of Good Reads is to hit that magic 320 page mark.

[@EdwardHaas-e8x]

@@josa720 Yeah nobody will publish short books these days. Fiction is very padded too unless it's a classic from the days when you could write a 200 page novel and get away with it LOL. Some defenders of the status quo will actually argue that size means quality! The author put so much more work into it 😃😁 Come on! I guess The Stranger and Twilight of the Idols are just bullshit then? The entire career of Poe or Ligotti is barely one Stephen King novel. The entire career of Philip K Dick is about the first novel of some modern Dune ripoff series.

[@BobJacobs10]

That is a very, very good pint!

[@joeyq9953]

This video is 10/10. You nailed it. Going to send it to all of my friends and family.

[@RandomReadingPathways]

Great points, and I liked some of the anger I heard coming through in the beginning of your take here! It is a topic worthy of that. I like the snippet from DFW about music being piped in everywhere because it’s so true. I’ve often tried to find a cozy, quiet coffee shop where I can read a book and it’s impossible because the vibe in every single one I’ve tried is bright, white, pop and dance music-filled, and as far from the idea of a coffeehouse as I can imagine. So I stick to hanging in libraries which are still, mercifully, especially if you find a good basement level, pin-quiet.

[@TheActiveMind1]

When I first heard him express the constant stimulation, I was surprised how I didn't already recognize it. Waiting rooms, grocery store lines, virtually everywhere we have phones, TVs, and music thrust upon us. I'm someone who needs nearly absolute silence to fully concentrate, or at least minimal distractions (people walking around me, the buzz of a cafe, etc.)

[@matthathaway5015]

The point that you made around 8:30 is an interesting one. There have been a few times that I’ve recommended a book to a friend and then they were surprised when I either said I didn’t like it or that it was good but boring to read. Sometimes a book is a trudge to get through, but it sticks with you after and you have a change of heart

[@DieFarbeLila88]

Can you name an example for a book that stuck with you? Because so far, the only thing that sticks with me concerning these books, is a deep resentment. I.e. „the Prozess“ from Kafka.

[@matthathaway5015]

@@DieFarbeLila88 The first two that I can think of are The Stranger and Perfume. The Stranger just irritated me to no end and Perfume was just bizarre. But both stuck with me and I kept thinking about them until one day I realized that I actually liked them quite a lot and that they were simply challenging me and what I was familiar with, which is sort of the point sometimes

[@DieFarbeLila88]

@@matthathaway5015 aaah! Interesting :) never heard of „the stranger“. Gotta google it

[@AletaSpeakz]

I am currently experiencing the trudge with the book confessions of an ugly step sister. The descriptions are very long winded and the language is a chore to listen to but there is a part of me that wants to hang in there. So I have excepted the fact that I will just have to take my time and this will not be a quick listen.

[@majkus]

First sentence: "less and less people are reading books."" If people read more, they would know that the correct form is "fewer and fewer people." The simple explanation: nobody cares.

[@SheriMaple]

Your video invokes discussions of why we believe people don't or can't read. Historically, the masses couldn't or didn't read because they lacked education and/or money (books were/still are expensive); I would add those factors into the equation. I had always given books to my nieces, nephews, and a godchild because everyone else would buy toys and didn't think about giving them books. Introduction to reading must start before children enter kindergarten, so having additional books outside of school is essential. My mother took me to get a library card, pay for museum trips, etc. When she had to work, she ensured other adults took me to concerts, movies, and the theater with their children. This practice starts early to build children's interest in reading, learning hobbies, etc. Unfortunately, my brothers didn't pick up the habit of reading, but their interests were drawing and sports. My mother subscribed to Sports Illustrated magazine due to their interest in sports, but I read it (good writing comes in all writing forms). People must have a curiosity about the world they live in, and some are incurious. I agree that people don't know how to be alone in a quiet space. If you are alone, you must be with yourself and all your thoughts, and that's uncomfortable for many people. I read alone and with book groups. Reading is not just reading but rereading as your perspective changes over time. You may see something in the second reading that you didn't notice in the first reading. I read novels, plays, short stories, poems, and long-form magazine articles on a subject or current issue. It's all literature. I can read a book that may reference another novel, and it will send me down a rabbit hole because I might have it on the reading list. It happened yesterday while reading a book that references Shakespeare's The Tempest. I saw the play but haven't read it, and that's a different kind of experience. After all, writers are building or inspired by the works of other authors or having a conversation. Reading does much more than we realize.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I agree, building the habit, interest, and foundation begins in childhood. Hopefully in this video I was also able to convey ways that we can connect with adults who don’t read regularly and how they can kindle or rekindle that interest

[@SheriMaple]

Oh yes, the adults. It’s a harder task, but not impossible. An interest or a hobby could be a good entry for an adult to get into reading. A hobby like knitting can get someone in learning about the craft in different parts of the world through the history of knitting. To your point, meet them where they are.

[@Dbobble999]

Good video. Now im about to go sit in my office, in the quiet, and read The Corrections by Franzen 👍🏽

[@italomendez4400]

Oh man, just when I was watching this video on the background while working...

[@BobJacobs10]

You make good points and short form is indeed a severe issue in our society, I agree. But let’s not forget that there are a lot of readers out there that do read in silence and tackle those big books and do engage with the hard questions, also in the younger generations. These people just tend to be way less vocal online. I’m a teacher of Latin and Greek here in Belgium and among the worrying signs you rightly identify in this video, I also see young people searching out ‘hard art’, art that challenges them and makes them consider their beliefs. My daily experience as a teacher makes me hopeful for the coming generations. Are there worrying trends concerning literacy? Yes. Are there many people enjoying art and literature without talking about it on social media - and so doing it unnoticed? Also yes. Thank you for the video, as ever.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Very true! Often it’s the silent majority that gives us a false sense of doom

[@WillSaabye-q9q]

Just found your channel and I love it so much! In 2025 I want to read good literature and I want to get into the classics. Ill be reading the picture of dorian grey as my first classic this year as I have read some in the past for school. Excited to go back and watch your older videos and am excited for new ones! Great video!

[@TheActiveMind1]

Wonderful, glad you found the channel! Feel free to join my book club too as we’ve got a few classics lined up for the year

[@GusKein]

I agree, 100%! I have been signaling the dangers of social media and its affect on our culture and society in negative ways. Nobody can read anything longer than a tweet without getting agitated and angry and needing another fix from another post. I left social media eight years ago after the 2016 election and I have no Instagram no Twitter no Facebook know anything and I have felt all the better for it. I think we all need to advocate to encourage people to read. I live in a wild beach side, vacation town where the intelligence level let’s just say is not all that high. I can’t imagine any of these beach bunnies putting down their phone or tablet for five seconds even to enjoy the environment that they came down here to see!That’s what led me to find a community and community on Substack and KZbin and book tube and eventually to your page and those of other creators and thinkers. Thank you for being a good book club leader and for this very on point post.❤😊

[@GusKein]

Sorry about my grammar, but I’m a very bad typist on the phone and I used voice to text and didn’t edit really well. But you get the gist. Thanks for your understanding.

[@shemiahwalker]

I agree with you. 💯. This was worth the watch. Thank you so much.

[@stuartreynolds4915]

Yes! Thank you for putting into words what is happening to my highly intelligent husband who now no longer has any interest in reading a book. He is always staring at a screen and says he would much rather find out what is happening in the world. He says he has the best of both worlds because I read to him the interesting parts of any book! 🙈Lynn

[@TwoMinutesonBooks-bt8lg]

I agree wholeheartedly. My kids' generation is totally different from mine when it comes to reading and silence.

[@ofcosmicomics]

Now 35 years old, a couple years ago I began to have the same feeling toward social media as I did when I didn't brush my teeth after a meal. It was like my brain was coated with the social media equivalent of ingredients in a highly processed food. I very quickly turned back to books and rejected most forms of social media, and those that I stuck with I made sure were only showing me content that I didn't deem garbage. It's been incredibly enjoyable and done wonders for my mental health and personal growth, which is not at all surprising.

[@sharpasaknife6456]

Hi Brock, Happy New Year. I'd like to share a few observations which I make here in Germany (in big towns like Berlin and Duesseldorf): The number of youngsters in the big book stores is rising. More girls than boys. They are mainly not browsing the literature shelves, but the "Young / New adult" section (we use the English terms here) and the book design (colorful all around) seems to play an important role, maybe even more than the content of a book. I also observed, that the big stores enlarged their section with English books and many youngsters really join this section. One of the bestsellers in English currently is "A Little Life" by Yanagihara. I'm just describing, what I observe, and don't want to judge. Greets, Reiner.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Yes, Young Adult, or YA, books are very popular here as well - particularly with women as you mentioned. And plenty of young men are picking up sci-fi and fantasy like Brandon Sanderson. I don’t want to paint the picture that “no one reads” or that only literary fiction is worth reading - most of my concern lies in the acceleration of stimulating content that both entertains more than informs and dampens concentration

[@sharpasaknife6456]

@@TheActiveMind1 I agree with you; fast entertainment and reduced ability to focus is really salient in youngsters. Btw: Also popular among youngsters here are Mangas.

[@ToReadersItMayConcern]

I find every point you make perfectly apt. Reading is, at least for a while, tedious, and the payoff is not obvious. Unfortunately, there's a need-or maybe it's a pressure born of ceaseless comparison-to have our time be pragmatic and efficient, and that's a huge factor in why reading slips to the wayside: it gives the impression of being inefficient and seemingly impractical. The loss of interest in reading seems to portend a general loss of art, a loss of seeking sublimity in the expansive and ambiguous, the non-answerable. It is difficult to communicate what it's like to be well-read, the fullness of that inner life, to someone who's yet to feel subtle, spacious bliss. I'm glad you're one of the channels to offer that nudge; curiosity may be the first essential step, and I hope we're a part of stirring that drive toward sitting quietly with a great book.

[@kennyb8220]

My experience has been that reading is the best way to commit information to memory. The takeaway: the ease with which you receive the information corresponds with the ease with which you forget it.

[@recluse007]

Brock, Thank you. Your video confirms what I had noticed going back 30-45 years ago. I spent most my life working in academic libraries and book stores. I’ve witnessed undergraduate and Master level graduate students who did not read and who did not try to get the most of their education. I have acquaintances and friends who are unable to have meaningful conversations because they don’t read and spend the majority of their free time watching videos and online with their phones. What is happening to my fellow citizens is tragic!

[@TriumphalReads]

Liked this video essay. I think Wallace might've been onto something about the quiet and solitary nature of reading being a prominent factor. (Does that mean I have to read him now? Lol) But yeah in the social work fields it's been very disconcerting seeing how prominent illiteracy and low level literacy has been. Great vid

[@TheActiveMind1]

Haha I'm secretly hoping this inspires anti-DFW readers to give him another try. The themes he explores in IF, TPK, and his commencement speech "This is Water" are quite portentous. He saw where entertainment was leading us and I wish he was around today to critique culture - while making us laugh like hell along the way

[@dqan7372]

Great reminder. I don't know how to fix the culture, but I do have some ideas for myself. My reading has really fallen off in the last five years. Pretty well coincides with getting a smart phone, though I know pc gaming took a huge toll as well. Off to read some Dante and Proust.

[@TraumaticTomes]

I can't read a book without subway surfers playing in the background. David Wallace Foster would be proud

[@Marlene55M]

Exactly. I am a tutor to German high school teens (grade 10 to 12) who literally hate reading. It's boring, they say, a waste of time, and since I only have 90 minutes per week to convince them of the contrary, you can imagine that my attemps aren't very successful. With your permission, I would like to use parts of your video in my lessons (will translate it into German), hoping that this could be helpful.

[@arishokqunari1290]

In 6:42 you criticise modern paperback books as shallow and predictable and say that modern readers try to avoid complicated books, but then beginning in 7:52 and especially in 8:26 you appreciate modern booktok trends and reading modern books, even if they are mostly entertaining and not complicated. That's confusing. Apart from that, I really liked your video and it added some inspiration to think about.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Fair! What I meant to express is although many mainstream books can be shallow, at least they do get readers into the door so to speak. Ideally, they continue to expand their reading interests and challenge themselves with works that contain greater depth and complexity. I believe those are the kinds of books that aid in self-discovery and shape historical eras

[@arishokqunari1290]

@@TheActiveMind1 Ah okay, I understand. Would you say then, that these paperback novels can be seen as a good first step to get used to reading and concentrating again before getting to more complicated books about society, art and concepts?

[@TheActiveMind1]

Definitely! If I’m to criticism myself, that’s something I should have articulated better in this video

[@arishokqunari1290]

@@TheActiveMind1 Thank you for your answers!

[@QuietExplorations]

I'm a high school English teacher. Obviously, I agree with everything you've said and love the power of literature and stories to transform. Unfortunately, many students see literature as useless. They don't see the practical application when they want to be working on engines, or working with their hands outside and moving their bodies, and I get that. Moreover, the standardization of education and the necessity of teaching to tests which they must take and pass to graduate from high school makes removes some of the empathy and beauty from engaging with great texts. Instead of admiring a gorgeous passage of writing and asking what it means and how can it be applied to your life, we're asking, "What does it mean? How do you know?" and then moving on. I blame myself, here, a little bit. I don't think I need to remove that application to themselves. Yet, the pressure is increasingly on to get those scores higher and to show we are successful. In short, I'm not sure what the answer is, but I can tell you after being at the helm of a classroom of 16 year olds all day, every day, I'm not very optimistic. I can tell them until pigs fly how beautiful literature is, how worthwhile and impactful, but it doesn't land with most. They're going to have to feel it themselves, much like you did after finding The Republic in a gym. Which leads me to another thought: school is universally hated. It's boring. It's tiring. Of course they're going to have an attitude towards reading and writing. But you, you discovered reading doing something else that you love: the gym. I wonder if a shade of the answer lies somewhere in those margins. Discovery of literature through something else previously cherished and enjoyed.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Thank you for sharing your own experiences and thoughts. You hit on some of the aspects of school that I considered mentioning but didn’t decide to spend too much time on in this video. It is difficult to instill interest in literature without having experienced the value of it. Like I suggested in the video, hopefully youth can be swayed by role models on social media who making reading an integral part of their lives

[@magnumopus7502]

My brother once asked me: "How many times can you read this?" - he pointed to "War and Peace"... I replied, "Not as many times as you've seen the Kardashanis." P.S. I'll be honest, I've never liked books, I just hated life.

[@choco1199]

😝

[@hatethenewyou]

It's an extremely worrying trend that needs to be addressed, how that should happen, i'm not sure.

[@hatethenewyou]

These short clips of DWF pretty much forced me to go watched the full interview, and now I'm itching to read his work

[@EvolvedDreamer]

I agree with you that as we became worker bees consumed by productivity, we as a species have also lost human empathy.

[@gregory_bloomfield]

Thank you, Brock, for this video. It’s very important. I’m surrounded by family and friends who hate reading, but will play games and scroll TikTok for hours. I shared this video on my Facebook profile.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Thank you for sharing it - that means a lot!

[@MadiCovington]

our kids are going to be readers!!! luv u 🥰

[@GarryBurgess]

So here I was, taking a break from the second reading, second translation of the Iliad so that I could hear this alarm about people no longer reading. I don't know what to make of this emergency. If people don't want to read, it's hard to force them. There is some merit to some movies as a means of story telling and also audio books. "They avoid the discomfort of a difficult book" - that’s me! But I’m used to many years of suffering with potentially boring books, so I can suck it up and take chances with difficult books.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I would agree, but watching/listening are different skills and require a different level of concentration. You can multi-task while listening to a podcast or even watching a show/movie, whereas reading - particular stimulating works - require all of your mental faculties. I guess my argument looks not solely on the act of reading, but the side effects of its slowly increasing absence

[@jakealden2517]

I think we do a disservice to young people when we tell them "reading is fun." Sometimes it is, but mostly the books that have had a profound and lasting impact on my life were challenging to read or understand. It took hours of labor and reflection to get through these books, but that makes it more rewarding in the end.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Couldn’t agree more

[@3rd_iimpact]

Meditation and staying away from my phone 90% of the time has helped me.

[@Steve-Duh-Rino]

I agree, for the most part, as I sit here scrolling endlessly on KZbin. I think this goes back further in time though. I think since radios entered homes (going on a hundred years now) the time spent on reading dropped for the average person. Before electronic entertainment entered our lives people and families had to be self-entertaining at the end of a work day. This could be provided through reading alone, reading to each other, playing musical instruments, singing together at the piano (OK, now I'm conjuring images of 'Little House on the Prairie', haha) and other ways. These forms of entertainment required more effort. A hundred years later we have hand-held entertainment devices. Not only are we reading less, we are also self-entertaining since an iPhone requires one person to operate it, not two, three, etc.. So yes, we are reading less, isolating more and using less brain cells. With that said, back to scrolling KZbin 😀

[@TheActiveMind1]

Yep, it's a ton of factors that contribute to this, the smartphone or device is just one piece. It's also about what's on the smartphone and what kind of content and the style/length of the content and it's chemical reaction with our brain, etc. Hope you enjoyed the video!

[@Steve-Duh-Rino]

@@TheActiveMind1 Great video! And yes, I enjoyed it

[@davep6603]

I find it extremely difficult to downshift my brain to the point where I can sit and read. There are so many distractions, with social media being the most insidious. Apps like TikTok are the perfect attention grabbing machine. Still, the payoff from reading is always worth it. I find that 15 minutes of reading is more enriching than hours of TV or doomscrolling. I’m often surprised at how little time has passed when I am reading and stop to take a break.

[@labpro72505]

When I magazine concerning the workplace, the writers mentioned that attention spans have been diminishing since the 70s. The idea of making media easier to consume must be nothing new.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I would agree, it’s not necessarily a new trend, but it’s an accelerating one where the consequences are starting to show up in younger generations like mine

[@labpro72505]

@TheActiveMind1 I would agree that social media has accelerated the diminishing attention spans.

[@amymalski]

It doesn't have to be solitary. Reading with a friend or significant other, joining reading sprints, etc. I read with soft ambience in the background like a fan or the sound of rain from an ambience channel on KZbin. I do this to combat my tinnitus. But I know other readers find it relaxing to their mind and allows them to unwind and approach their book. Just some quick thoughts (no pun, just at work right now, lol)

[@TheActiveMind1]

Very true! Reading doesn’t have to be solitary or silent time. I think in general it’s just about reducing the distractions

[@c.lstrife]

Things that aren't helping the reading literacy: 1) People have to have two to three jobs while going to college. 2) Early schools have done away Phonics. 3) Book bannings/burnings. 4) Unschooling. 5) Books not being created for men. (The book industry is mainly woman dominated and most books out there now are more catered towards women). 6) 3 queuing What is helping reading literacy: 1) Phonics 2) Funding Libraries to create a safe place for all people. 3) Having more time for ourselves to read. 4) Internet detoxing. 5) Forming a good habit of reading. 6) Listening to an audiobook while doing chores etc. 7) Having books be catered to ALL people. When I was doing an internet detox a few months ago. I noticed that everytime I was bored, I would have the urge to be on my phone. So I would either write, read, walk etc. What I found was that my brain would be all over the place if I wasn't occupied with something. This was normal since human beings aren't meant to sit down and do nothing all day, we are meant to do something. Now I was already a voracious reader before all this so I was well prepared and had books to read while I was bored but it made me wonder how others would do if they weren't so lucky. Also, I think society tends to criminalize introverts as well. Hell, I even remembered that one part in Fahrenheit 451 that reading makes people antisocial and not wanting to spend time with others was weird. (Yes, we humans are social creatures but we also like to be alone too).

[@heckinbasedandinkpilledoct7459]

Based bloom enjoyer

[@HannahsBooks]

I’m curious what you (as a young person) think might have led you to reading-including reading quite challenging books.

[@TheActiveMind1]

In my opinion, I'm a great anecdote for this because I rarely read at all as a child an adolescent. I remember falling in love with Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series and rushed to read his new book The Red Pyramid. I consumed the ~500 pages in 3 days and you would've thought I'd continue to read...but I didn't. Perhaps it was not knowing where to go next or my parents not placing another book in my hands, but I fell out of it. In middle and high school, I had no interest and saw books as simply entertainment, whereas I preferred sports, video games, or movies. I think coming to love reading later in my early adulthood was a bit of chance. Someone left a copy of The Republic at the gym I was working at and I was stunned to see I could make sense of what I thought would be too complex. I then got into a little bit of self-help and beginner philosophy books, and those acted as a gateway to literary fiction. Within a few years, my perspective towards reading has transformed immensely and continues to. I would probably side with my suggestion at the end of the video that the best way to inspire more kids to read might be through social media content showing how enriching it can be. There's much to be done in schools, and perhaps more importantly within the household, but developing role models and content that drive more people to the library or bookstore might be the best route to resist the trends. Curious to hear your thoughts! I know you read Harry Potter amongst other works to your son as he grew up Edit: I realize I didn’t answer “why challenging book”. I guess my initial interest in philosophy lead me to seek books with greater depth or mental discomfort. I think I like the challenge of trying to interpret or understand complex novels, but it depends on why you read. I discussed this with my wife who has very little interest in the books I read and reads for different reasons

[@HannahsBooks]

@ I love your gym story! We had kind of an unusual family situation-homeschooled in the city going to not only libraries but museums and concerts and the like all the time. And we were a bookish family in general. Neither Abe nor I had a smart phone until late in his senior year of high school, and we didn’t have a tv (and I grew up without one myself). In college, he loved most of the assigned books but had little time to read for pleasure. I don’t think he reads a whole lot right now, but I suspect it might reenter his life in a more serious way when work settles down a bit. (Also, he’s a serious musician and that takes a lot of his free time!)

[@TheActiveMind1]

⁠@@HannahsBooksI can understand that! I hope to homeschool my future children for reasons like that - greater exposure to art and culture, as well as freedom to discover and explore. Hope you and your son are doing well :)

[@HannahsBooks]

@ When you get to that point, give me a buzz and I would love to chat. It was a fantastic experience for us.

[@Abdalrahman3ly]

For me, I don't read much these days because I read something I'm not interested in, like productivity books, and I feel that authors write a lot of unnecessary things. It is possible to summarize these books in a few minutes, so read what you are interested in.

[@turtlesoup3624]

I know someone who used to read a great deal, in fact he would routinely recommend new authors to me. Now when I discuss a novel or even a short story I read, he says he's jealous ... He continues to study art, as that is his obsession, and "read" books on art, as mostly that involves flipping thru picture books and reading captions. Almost like he had a brain injury!

[@menzodmk1197]

I think this is also a consequence of the 'fastening' of the world. There's basically a choice surplus and time deficit. Distances are shorter, our world is ever more interconnected and we can do so much more. With so many options within reach of our finger tips, chasing that rush of instant dopamine only reinforces our need for it and makes us feel as if our time is super valuable therefore why bother doing something that doesn't provide us results sooner.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I agree completely - the choice surplus and time deficiency is a great way to put it

[@davereese6614]

FEWER are reading, not LESS.

[@bookdmb]

I think there’s truth to what you say, but at the same time I feel like this might be one of those perennial mirages, like the moral decay of youth.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I think would could argue it’s simply a change in medium, although the literacy rates are what they are. But what I do feel is less a mirage and more certain is the behavioral change amongst how people interact with media/art

[@bookdmb]

@ Well, that’s a bit inflexible without providing hard data. Take “literacy” for instance. I’d hazard that globally more people are literate than ever before. If you mean how frequently do people read, again phones mean that amount is likely relatively high. Books or fiction though, particularly the canon Bloom so esteemed, yes this has been affected by cultural and technological shifts. This could be perceived as a decline, or perhaps a fragmentation or even democratization. Bloom was a very dogmatic thinker, the canon hegemonic in many ways. Consider contrasts my friend. As I say though, there’s likely some truth in what you say.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I presented data in the video, but there’s more detailed reports that can be easily found online. Surely literacy intentionally has gone up, but in America it has declined. People don’t have to read Bloom’s esteemed canon, but reducing our ability to comprehend texts that contain complex ideas or a more expansive vocabulary does matter. And there’s copious amounts of data to support the decline in attention span and behavioral changes due to the boom of social media

[@nedmerrill5705]

Right - this is the first wave of a chain-reaction disaster. Literacy consumed by a wildfire. To me, the ultimate distraction is a good book. A good one really takes me away.

[@spencerburke]

Less and less people? Uncomfortability? Generations? Use of basic spoken English degrading, so of course literacy is too.

[@myself2noone]

Increasingly, I'm not sure if this is actually an issue. "Literacy rates have gone down" not compared to 200 years ago, they sure haven't. Has technology actually destroyed our ability to read, or are people just more interested in doing other things now that reading a whole book isn't the only way to get a story? Is this a new trend? Or are people going back to something approaching normally now that technology has caught up with our desires? The printing press was it for 100's of years, but now she has to compete with the Xbox. And maybe those are just kids who never should have gone to college. I know it's the best way to improve your life, but maybe it shouldn't be. Maybe there should be good, well paying jobs for people who can't finish a book. Basically, everyone throughout history has been saying some veration of this exact thing sense we've kept records. Maybe like all the other times before it's fine.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I agree with many of your points, but I’m not comparing literacy rates to 200 years ago. Of course, accessibility to education has increased exponentially over the past two centuries. And my argument isn’t suggesting everyone must read a book or prioritize it in their life. But what I attempt to articulate is that specific changes in recent decades have not only shifted our attention to a new medium, but it’s a shorter, more addictive medium that has measurable consequences: increased ADD/ADHD issues, higher rates of depression/social anxiety, impact on patience and ability to think critically, etc. The examples I just listed have multiple contributing factors feeding into them, but I’m just exploring one in this video. I appreciate the feedback

[@ApricusInaros]

Talking about literature in a casual setting becomes more and more difficult. When I meet someone new I might ask, "hey, what are you currently reading?" (in a friendly, not stuck-up way). 9 out of 10 times the answer is, "nothing" 🤷‍♂️. 20 years ago maybe 3 out of 10 gave me that answer. I mingle with people from all kind of demographics. So yeah, this feels a bit disheartening.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Very true! This seems more like a side effect rather than cause of the issue, but it’s grown enough that it further exacerbates the lack of literary interest

[@isaacriggs4656]

I don't know what you're talking about. People read every day. From street signs to Twitter.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Street signs and Twitter don't require the sort of concentration reading does

[@MrSeedi76]

Seems like people first come up with a theory ("phones make us dumb") and then try to prove it by finding facts that bolster up the thesis. That's called confirmation bias and not a proper way to do research. It's basically the age old complaint of the older generation that the younger generation is useless because it's not interested in the same things the older generation was interested in. Only packed slightly more sophisticated so it's not as obvious. One needs only look how reading was criticized in the past for making women hysterical, etc. Whenever a new medium is introduced, the fans of the old medium demonize it. When I was young, my mother complained about TV, comic books and computer games. Today it's the phones and the short form content supposedly rotting the brains of our children. But at the same time my son for instance has no problem following a 3 hr wendigoon podcast or an anime series with hundreds of episodes. So basically all that's happening once again as so many times in history is that story telling found a new medium - basically we're back to sitting around the fire having stories told to us instead of reading. It's not "attention span". It's nothing to be worried about.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Podcasts don’t require continued concentration. Although there’s a point to your argument of trading mediums (radio for TV for smartphone), it excuses the cultural changes and behavioral aspects of the issue

[@rogerbernard9572]

I reread “Ivanhoe” once every three years because my 9th grade literature teacher completely destroyed it for me. We had frequent quizzes and few in depth discussion about the book. I was miserable and finally just gave up reading it. If students today can’t read it’s because a teacher or parent(s) failed to instill a “love for books.”