Why People Read Less And Less

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Fran
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Re: Why People Read Less And Less

Post by Fran »

tracydinh96 wrote:Since technology is getting more advances people are reading less
They may be reading books less but from what I see they are continually reading
We fade away, but vivid in our eyes
A world is born again that never dies.
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suzy1124
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Post by suzy1124 »

I believe that " economics " comes into play too.....a limited budget would not put the purchase of books on top of the list...

that's why i give Libraries big Kudos!....
" We don't see things as they are but as we are "

Carpe Diem!

Suzy...
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Post by SedefOzbay »

I think that just depending on one kind of culture isn't very good. Throughout the history, our values have currently changed and there always has been some kind of inertia against it. Always, there has been someone that didn’t want the change to happen. I am not saying that reading books isn’t good but I am saying it doesn’t necessarily require so much fighting over. For example, we can imagine people were criticized for reading instead of doing what was expected to do and losing values of those days’ society.

I think TV is a whole new culture and a new medium to learn and thrive from. I won’t suggest there aren’t any downsides to TV. It is obviously more consumerism-dependent than reading ever was. Also as it is easier to watch then it ever was to read, people tended to do watch TV and do nothing else but this wasn’t really the case for reading at any time in history. This is probably what scares people.

It is also apparent that there is good TV and bad TV. We have some really important and really good movies that have really good thoughts and messages lying within in them and we shouldn’t just see past them. They exist and carry the potential to teach and mold our personality as much as a good book can. And I want to point out that there also are good books and bad books. It isn’t like every book is good and every TV product is bad. There are goods and bads to everything.

So I don’t think it is correct to just rule out TV and call it the obviously bad choice, because almost all of the bad qualities that are thought of TV can be attributed to books if you imagine them couple of centuries ago. I am sure there have been moms complaining to their children to go out and play instead of sitting at home and reading.
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Post by prarich »

Because they either do not have the time, they get too busy in their day to day life, family, work etc or they find some other engagements that are short lived, do it and get over with it. eg. TV, Internet.
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Post by JRicouard »

Unfortunately I feel my generation has greatly decreased the percentile of avid readers. I am 24 years old and can hardly find a handful of people to speak with about books, which is even more interesting because I work with some of the greatest minds of the age (literally). Many of them read a book or two but that is only in a year. I read a book or two in a week, although that number would be much greater if I had my way. My son who is a mere one years old greatly prefers reading to any other activity and I hope to nurture this desire to learn and experience books as much as possible. I am attempting to get my husband to get rid of the Television but he isn't warming up to the idea quite yet.

Try to get your kids, grandkids, neighbors kids... random kids on the street, to read! Please! I want my son to grow up with literate, intelligent classmates!
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Deodato 742
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Post by Deodato 742 »

Well its mainly because new technology has come out and its entertaining them more than reading.
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Post by ITnker »

Most anything said about the lack of reading is nothing more than an excuse!

We have made up so many excuses for not pushing ourselves, or our children to read that we have come to regret other's loss in the value of reading. Sure television and technology has evolved rapidly over the years, yet along with them there are even more methods available to promote reading. Almost every home in America today has one or multiple platforms that permits access to reading. There are even multiple libraries accessible online, wanting people to use the resources once only available inside the brick and mortar building down town.

So, again, what is the excuse for noone taking advantage of the readily available resources?!
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Post by Debra »

I think people are really focused on "experiences" and less focused on just being. We recently moved into a neighborhood with a ton of kids, but most of them are too overscheduled to ever play outside. Organized sports, music lessons, etc. It makes me sad that our culture is like that.
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Post by Bailers77 »

I am actually doing a research paper right now about this and how it affects children.
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Post by AMP76 »

We had some people come over last weekend and the first thing they said was "wow you guys have lots of books" and they are both teachers! I replies to this effect and the response was "yeah but we don't read". It made me a little disappointed to know that even a pair of teachers doesn't read anymore. Conversely, I have a good friend who claims to not be a reader but devours magazines and trade journals like they are an all-you-can-eat buffet.
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Post by sybil1reader »

My 26 year old daughter will read a book every once in a while and it definitely is not the genre I would consider reading. That being said, I see television, texting, tweeting, etc taking the time that could be spent reading. I get the feeling that the times demand "right now gratification" and a book just takes too much time for some people. :cry:
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Post by LoveMusic_AK »

I think people read less and less because they're to consumed in technology. They go on their phones, text, and surf the internet. School has also increased the amounts of reading they have their students do by a lot! So I think most people feel as if reading is work. They don't view it as fun because school doesn't make it fun. If all they've known is that reading is "boring", then why in the world would they want to read?
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Post by cam_gold »

There just isn't enough incentive anymore. In times past, a classical education depended a lot on reading. These days, with the continued advancements in technology, there is so much information available simply by plugging in a few key commands on an iphone and other electronic devices.
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Post by L_Therese »

tinyViolin wrote:In my studies, I also learned that English majors can be real a-holes. Among them, be they fat short tall or hairy, there is the widespread misconception that because they read, they are smart. This is not true. People who don't read novels and are smart obviously realize this, but they are too smart to care. They are busy learning Chinese or untangling the political machinations of the leader of Botswana.
Thank you for making this point. I think what books can give us (almost universally) is perspective. Whether we read cheap paperback romances or classic literature, any book is a glimpse of the world (real or idealized) as seen by the author, and that can expand our minds. That said, academia is very involved with the internet, and it is often more beneficial to learn from articles or textbooks than just reading and reading. Incidentally, I could tell you about the political machinations of Botswana and why people won't actually have to learn Chinese to be successful in business 50 years from now, but I didn't learn any of that from books (well, maybe a little - sometimes it's hard to remember). On the contrary, magazines and online publications are often much more informative for academic purposes, and because students/researchers/persons who want to be informed spend so much time reading these non-books, I can understand why large portions of the population would rather veg in front of the tv or play video games rather than read even more. So, I concede that reading CAN be beneficial in terms of brain development/honing, but maybe recreational reading shouldn't be associated too closely to intelligence or knowledge.
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Post by SoftCoyote »

My mom used to read all the time but nowadays she doesn't read anymore. When I asked her once she said it's because she doesn't have any time. I personally think she does have time she just doesn't make time to read. It's either work or sleep. Well, it was for the longest time. Now she's going back to school, but she could still make time(I do).
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