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I often keep a book with me whenever I have extra time spent waiting that would otherwise be wasted (such as waiting at the doctor's office, if I don't find the magazines they have in the waiting room interesting), and I do read mostly non-fiction, though I enjoy novels once in a while too.
I guess the internet is a game-changer for reading, though I don't know how much of that is replacement of books versus getting information many wouldn't bother to get if they could only get it from books or getting a lot more extra information. Also people using the internet to read things, instead of books isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's true that you got to be careful and keep a critical eye as anyone can write any old thing online, but that goes without saying (and even for books too, especially authors on controversial issues). After all some of these people that read things online, in articles and on discussion forums, might be those who'd otherwise not normally crack open an informative book or even newspapers, but would be informed or aware of things (like global issues etc.) from the net. In addition, I find good book recommendations through the web. I still have a thing for having a book on hand with me, though I wonder if this will change in the future.
Moderator cut: Off Topic
Last edited by TheViking85; 02-10-2012 at 11:11 AM..
Reading is difficult to learn and to do. It takes a lot of time and energy. Advertisers in other media spend a lot of time, energy and money to keep people from reading anything but or, preferably, watching advertizing. Most of the advertizing is much more enjoyable than a novel or a text. The results are an ignorant population trained to buy without thinking.
Here's my take on reading and this from someone who considers herself a reader, though I don't read as much as I used to. I read recently that when you do something that really feels good, like hug your child or pet your cat or get together with friends, you get a little shot of endorphin in your brain--your natural morphine. This is to ensure that you keep doing things that make you feel good. (Studies have recently shown that getting a text message causes an endorphin rush too, which is why it's such an addictive behavior--sexting is probably even better for that, lol.) I do believe that when I sit down to read a book, esp one I'm really looking forward to, I get an endorphin rush. And then if it's a really good book, I will keep getting them and if it's an extremely well-written book, they will be stronger. I have been known to get excited and want to go find someone to share it with, when I read a particularly well written passage from a book. It has nothing to do with arrogance--I'm assuming that people who don't care for reading don't get that like I do and mostly I just feel a bit sorry for them.
And I'm with tijlover--reading is like traveling, only without the mess and passport and money and not only can you go to other places in the world, but you can travel in time and to other worlds and be another person even. I love traveling too, but it's limited compared to my books.
Last edited by TheViking85; 02-12-2012 at 09:20 PM..
Watching a video is passive. Someone else is providing the scenery and fleshing out the characters. No imagination is required.
Reading is active. The story comes alive in your own imagination. You have to provide the scenery.
Some enjoy that psychic energy and are even eager to apply it. Others never had any to begin with.
But playing video games is interactive. Some of them require the player to choose a character, to arm the character and take the character through various scenes. The player can become very involved with his "character".
In my family, reading wasn't forced much on us, one sister is still an avid reader but cannot hold down a job for long and has substance abuse problems. One who didn't read much works as a nurse and does fine. One brother always read a lot, another didn't enjoy reading but does fine in his job.
Some kids are more hands on, they like to build things, fix motors, work on constructing objects -- they prefer a hammer in their hand than a book - but they can be very creative. Or the child may prefer to spend long hours out doors, studying ant hills, testing bees or wasps, watching how the clouds form and move.
Is one form of learning really better than another? Is one child watching ants at work also learning? Maybe even more directly learning than one sitting in a chair reading about them. Of course one can do both.
I've always been an avid reader and have a dozen or so library books checked out at home at all times. But even friends who I consider to be bright and educated really hate reading. They've not read a book in years. They will participate in discussion groups relating to books (like Eckhart Tolle books) but won't read the books. I've heard lots of people who participate in book clubs don't actually read the books and just go for the socializing.
I've heard many college students never read for pleasure and some don't even read books that are part of the coursework.
And almost no one I know can stand a subtitled movie.
In a doctor's office, no one reads a book or magazine while they wait. they play on their electronic devices or stare into space.
When I post descriptions of my events for Meetup groups, most people don't read the actual description. Once I titled an event "Free Movie Screening" and someone wanted to know how much the tickets were!
Some people claim they read online, but it's a different type of reading---usually not sustained and with tones of visual distractors like photos.
So what has caused the aversion to reading? Is reading just too old-school? Can't compete with audiovisual electronic material? Not taught well in school to read? Just too lazy?
I have to agree with you that I know a lot of people who don't read anything. I also know several (only) that read a lot.
Where I was growing up all there was was lamp light and no TV and battery pack radios - that went dead and no money for new batteries - so there was nothing to do after homework, supper and the cow was milked and the cattle fed but collect around the table and read by the kerosene lamp. At that time it was books like Gullivers Travels, Treasure Island, Tarzan, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and stuff like that. I guess that is where i developed the reading habit.
I actually have been reading a lot of the time when I should have been doing something more constructive.
Anyway I think there are so many other things people do now that didn't even exist then that there is not much time to spend just reading a good book.
I usually read a couple of library books a week. I quit buying books many years ago but I must have read $10,000.00 worth of library books in the last half a century. I used to go to the library and start with the first book in the A's without looking at the title and the next book the B's all the way through the alphabet and then start over with the second book of each letter. I got a lot of really good books that way that I never would have picked if I just looked for an interesting title or read the summary on the fly leafs. I only ever got a couple that I simply couldn't finish.
For one thing I couldn't care much less about sports or hunting or a lot of other stuff people are involved in like Facebook for instance so that gets me a lot of reading time.
I will say however there are lots of Kindles and the like selling so somebody is still reading.
As a diabetic it is real good incentive to watch my sugar real close because I dread the day I can't read anymore.
I've always been an avid reader and have a dozen or so library books checked out at home at all times. But even friends who I consider to be bright and educated really hate reading. They've not read a book in years. They will participate in discussion groups relating to books (like Eckhart Tolle books) but won't read the books. I've heard lots of people who participate in book clubs don't actually read the books and just go for the socializing.
I've heard many college students never read for pleasure and some don't even read books that are part of the coursework.
And almost no one I know can stand a subtitled movie.
In a doctor's office, no one reads a book or magazine while they wait. they play on their electronic devices or stare into space.
When I post descriptions of my events for Meetup groups, most people don't read the actual description. Once I titled an event "Free Movie Screening" and someone wanted to know how much the tickets were!
Some people claim they read online, but it's a different type of reading---usually not sustained and with tones of visual distractors like photos.
So what has caused the aversion to reading? Is reading just too old-school? Can't compete with audiovisual electronic material? Not taught well in school to read? Just too lazy?
There is no cause for the lack of people reading..
I myself have always been an avid reader, my sister is not and we both had the same education, she was mediocre in English however excelled in mathematics and she is a CPA now...
I have a degree in liberal arts with an emphasis in English ( one of my degrees) I tutored English at the college level.
I have won awards in middle school for the most books read. My ex husband? Loves literature and favors fantasy and non fiction...
Our son? whom is 14? has never enjoyed reading even though he has been around it all of his life and has witnessed first hand during his younger years that many times there has been no tv on and his father and I sitting in the living room reading books or reading to one another..we have read to him since infancy ( I read to him while in the womb) he had toys but mostly BOOKS in his little possession since he was a toddler, CALDECOTT award winners lined his shelves and were read and re-read..
Now for education?
Our son has attended parochial education since kinder..an excellent education and was reading at a jr level in HS in 6th grade..however? He CANNOT stand to read unless it is car mags...ridiculous..he has been online for one year as well as having a cell phone..
So in effect, there is nothing wrong with individuals whom DO NOT LIKE TO READ...imo one either does or does not...
And often times there is no explanation..as I have stated here clearly..
It was not for lack of exposure, a push, education or lack of materials...
Although I know that most of this country probably feels this way--it still stuns me when I come across someone who will actually attempt to promote the idea that reading is "damaging" in some way. This is precisely what is wrong with this nation. Really sad. I see it every day when I go out and work in schools with teachers and students, and in my own friends and family. People don't want to read. It requires too much brain power and frankly, a lot of people don't have much of that. And it is blatantly obvious. We are a dumbed down nation who has come to view reading and learning in general as without value. That's why schools are failing. That's why most teens I see are walking zombies living a life connected to myriad forms of technology yet completely disconnected from reality. Unfortunately, many people of the younger generations who grew up tethered to the television and video games have somehow completed teaching and other degrees and are now influencing our young. I can't tell you how many times I've had teachers tell me "I don't read" or "I haven't read a book since college". One teacher told me the only book she EVER read was during college. Many houses of friends and family I know don't even have ONE book in them. Until this nation values reading and learning as it once did, NOTHING will improve.
Teachers need to teach a LOVE of reading, books, and learning. The few kids who are still fortunate enough to be exposed to this idea are the ones who succeed. I do realize that some people will read more than others, and that is fine. Reading is power. With it, one can mold his/her own education. It develops discernment, problem solving skills, leads to better decision making, and opens the mind to the world. The possiblilities and benefits are truly endless and this has been proven time and time again in research. Reading (and libraries) have a transformative power that is limitless. And today libraries are shutting down left and right.
I think about just two generations back, neither of my grandparents had a high-school education, yet through reading, they were still smart enough to know the power books and education held. They made sure the house was full of books, even if they were secondhand. My grandma brought them home from the people whose houses she cleaned and my granddad brought them home from his garbage collection route. My mother and her sisters read those books and grew up with the value of reading, earned college degrees, are still avid readers. However, it is funny that her youngest sibling, the only son, was somewhat spoiled, as is sometimes the situation, was given everything he asked for and more even if my mom and aunts had to work for it, and he is the only non-reader in the family, although his kids are readers.
My mom, I am so thankful, passed that to me. We visited libraries, bookstores, bookmobiles, and had books everywhere. I remember sitting bored in first grade as the other kids learned to read because I had already picked it up at home. I spent my extra money on books. When she worked on her masters degree when I was in middle school, I waited many hours for her in the university libraries while she was in night class. I would finish my homework and then hit those stacks, already forming my own education.
I realize I may be an extreme case, but today I see many kids every day up to first grade who don't even know their last names. Older kids (fourth or fifth graders) who can't comprehend the difference between "now" and "long ago". Teenagers who don't know what street they live on. These are byproducts of a non-reading society and it will only get worse I'm afraid.
Although I know that most of this country probably feels this way--it still stuns me when I come across someone who will actually attempt to promote the idea that reading is "damaging" in some way. This is precisely what is wrong with this nation. Really sad. I see it every day when I go out and work in schools with teachers and students, and in my own friends and family. People don't want to read. It requires too much brain power and frankly, a lot of people don't have much of that. And it is blatantly obvious. We are a dumbed down nation who has come to view reading and learning in general as without value. That's why schools are failing. That's why most teens I see are walking zombies living a life connected to myriad forms of technology yet completely disconnected from reality. Unfortunately, many people of the younger generations who grew up tethered to the television and video games have somehow completed teaching and other degrees and are now influencing our young. I can't tell you how many times I've had teachers tell me "I don't read" or "I haven't read a book since college". One teacher told me the only book she EVER read was during college. Many houses of friends and family I know don't even have ONE book in them. Until this nation values reading and learning as it once did, NOTHING will improve.
Teachers need to teach a LOVE of reading, books, and learning. The few kids who are still fortunate enough to be exposed to this idea are the ones who succeed. I do realize that some people will read more than others, and that is fine. Reading is power. With it, one can mold his/her own education. It develops discernment, problem solving skills, leads to better decision making, and opens the mind to the world. The possiblilities and benefits are truly endless and this has been proven time and time again in research. Reading (and libraries) have a transformative power that is limitless. And today libraries are shutting down left and right.
I think about just two generations back, neither of my grandparents had a high-school education, yet through reading, they were still smart enough to know the power books and education held. They made sure the house was full of books, even if they were secondhand. My grandma brought them home from the people whose houses she cleaned and my granddad brought them home from his garbage collection route. My mother and her sisters read those books and grew up with the value of reading, earned college degrees, are still avid readers. However, it is funny that her youngest sibling, the only son, was somewhat spoiled, as is sometimes the situation, was given everything he asked for and more even if my mom and aunts had to work for it, and he is the only non-reader in the family, although his kids are readers.
My mom, I am so thankful, passed that to me. We visited libraries, bookstores, bookmobiles, and had books everywhere. I remember sitting bored in first grade as the other kids learned to read because I had already picked it up at home. I spent my extra money on books. When she worked on her masters degree when I was in middle school, I waited many hours for her in the university libraries while she was in night class. I would finish my homework and then hit those stacks, already forming my own education.
I realize I may be an extreme case, but today I see many kids every day up to first grade who don't even know their last names. Older kids (fourth or fifth graders) who can't comprehend the difference between "now" and "long ago". Teenagers who don't know what street they live on. These are byproducts of a non-reading society and it will only get worse I'm afraid.
I'm glad to finally read a post where someone understands the reality of our current society and education system. This discussion is full of people making excuses for their and their families lack of reading. Our schools and colleges are full of students who have not developed adequate reading ability despite all of the NCLB testing of language arts skills. I have seen first hand college students who are incapable of reading college textbooks. Yet these students are somehow continuing to attend college with the goal of getting a degree. When I have hired people, one of they key areas I tried to evaluate was how much ready they had done. Sarah Palin and some of the Republican candidates from this year's primaries are a perfect example of people who you would assume would have a deep understand of political issues such as foreign affairs and Supreme Court decisions, but it was obvious there was a lack of reading and or reading comprehension.
I read all the time. My Mom instilled a love of reading on all of us kids when we were young. Always have a book with me everywhere i go. Never bored. But i constantly run into new people all the time that say they never read. Some say they don't watch TV as well. Or go online. What the heck do they do? But it's their journey, they have to do it their way. Whatever it is that they do.
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Why Are People So Averse to Reading?
