In Praise of (Offline) Slow Reading - New York Times
Ironically enough, I found about this article thanks to a tweet from Margaret Atwood. (I really should read some of Margaret's newer stuff, but I'm not sure how much I want to read about dystopias. Especially since The Handmaid's Tale is seeming more and more prescient.)
The digital world offers us many advantages, but if we yield to that world too completely we may lose the privacy we need to develop a self. Activities that require time and careful attention, like serious reading, are at risk; we read less and skim more as the Internet occupies more of our lives.
Unfortunately, I can relate to that quote far too well. I really haven't read a whole lot over the past few years. Being barred from borrowing books from the library didn't help. (I returned some books to the branch after library closing on the due date. That evening, it snowed, and the library's vehicles - like many in Vancouver - were not able retrieve the books for a few days. When I next tried to borrow books, I found that I was being charged fines for the time after the books were due, to the time that they were able to be marked as "returned." Now I could understand having to pay a fine for one day, but for several days - forget it.) But I should not be using lack of library access as an excuse - I simply haven't been able to focus on reading as much as I used to.
And there’s a link between selfhood and reading slowly, rather than scanning for quick information, as the Web encourages us to do. Recent work in sociology and psychology suggests that reading books, a private experience, is an important aspect of coming to know who we are.
I'm guessing that's why partially why those people in Fahrenheit 451 weren't allowed to read books. Or, come to think of it, the women in The Handmaid's Tale.
The digital world offers us many advantages, but if we yield to that world too completely we may lose the privacy we need to develop a self. Activities that require time and careful attention, like serious reading, are at risk; we read less and skim more as the Internet occupies more of our lives.
Unfortunately, I can relate to that quote far too well. I really haven't read a whole lot over the past few years. Being barred from borrowing books from the library didn't help. (I returned some books to the branch after library closing on the due date. That evening, it snowed, and the library's vehicles - like many in Vancouver - were not able retrieve the books for a few days. When I next tried to borrow books, I found that I was being charged fines for the time after the books were due, to the time that they were able to be marked as "returned." Now I could understand having to pay a fine for one day, but for several days - forget it.) But I should not be using lack of library access as an excuse - I simply haven't been able to focus on reading as much as I used to.
And there’s a link between selfhood and reading slowly, rather than scanning for quick information, as the Web encourages us to do. Recent work in sociology and psychology suggests that reading books, a private experience, is an important aspect of coming to know who we are.
I'm guessing that's why partially why those people in Fahrenheit 451 weren't allowed to read books. Or, come to think of it, the women in The Handmaid's Tale.