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Is Always On Tech Destroying Our Ability To Read?

posted by n1 on Sunday June 15 2014, @03:39AM   Printer-friendly
from the tl;dr dept.

Appalbarry writes:

Tim Gray, writing in the New York Reviews of Books, has a very interesting article that asks whether it has become impossible to find the uninterrupted blocks of time that are needed to read serious works of literature, and whether the change in the reading environment is also changing how books are written.

Ordinarily I ignore the "Computer Bad! Destroy Society!" arguments, but I have to say that what he describes seems all too familiar. I can't recall the last time that I actually sat down for two or three hours just to read.

I grew up spending hours each day, every day devouring books of all sorts. Is this a thing that's lost to people raised with Internet, Game Consoles, and Smartphones? Pardon me if I sound like an old fart.

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Tork on Sunday June 15 2014, @08:23AM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Sunday June 15 2014, @08:23AM (#55544) Journal
    And then Facebook came along and became popular for no good reason, right?
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  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday June 15 2014, @09:29AM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Sunday June 15 2014, @09:29AM (#55554) Journal

    It doesn't matter for my argument. Being on facebook is not equivalent with having friends, contrary to your claim. That's the point I'm making. Not more, not less.

    There are good reasons not to be on facebook. Not having friends is not one of them.

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    • (Score: 2) by Tork on Sunday June 15 2014, @09:58AM

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Sunday June 15 2014, @09:58AM (#55558) Journal

      You brought up how it was before... so, sorry, yes it is relevent in relation to your argument. I agree with you that there are good reasons to stay away from Facebook, but if you cannot acknowledge what it brings to the table you cannot speak with credibility.

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      • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday June 15 2014, @11:40AM

        by maxwell demon (1608) on Sunday June 15 2014, @11:40AM (#55567) Journal

        To reject your implication that not being on facebook means not having friends, I wouldn't even need to know what facebook is.

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        • (Score: 2) by Tork on Sunday June 15 2014, @06:07PM

          by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Sunday June 15 2014, @06:07PM (#55633) Journal
          Umm, no, that was never implied in my post.
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        • (Score: 2) by Tork on Monday June 16 2014, @12:01AM

          by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 16 2014, @12:01AM (#55710) Journal
          So did technology destroy your ability to read? ;)
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