Back in my first set of graduate school days in the early ’70′s, one of the books that seemed to be required reading almost everywhere was Thomas Kuhn’s, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”. Kuhn coined the term, “paradigm shift”. Today’s New York Times has an interesting article that I think is about such a paradigm shift: “Literacy Debate: Online RU Really Reading?”
What is fascinating about this article is that it brings the use of the internet as primary source of reading material right up against the view of the importance of reading books. Before I contribute my two cents on this topic, I invite others to read the article and offer comments on this site. I eagerly await your insights…
Thanks!
JD
I thought one of the most telling comments in the article was made by Nicholas Carr, author of the Atlantic article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The article quotes him as saying, “What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation,” He then confesses that he now found it difficult to read long books. At another point in the article, Rand Spiro, a researcher at Michigan State, says “It takes a long time to read a 400-page book. . . . In a tenth of that time, the Internet allows a reader to cover a lot more of the topic from different points of view.” What’s wrong with this picture? Well, in Carr’s case, and in those who may follow in his footsteps, losing your capacity for concentration and contemplation seems a problem. Our age is already so addicted to sounds bits and information of all sorts in bite-size portions that dealing with a complex argument in a long essay or a book-length study would seem to be at risk; but not all issues can be summarized easily, and sometimes we must put our energy into comprehending more complex presentations, whether in a novel or a work of non-fiction. I read on the Net for both work and my own enlightenment, but I also spend a good deal of time reading books. I think we all need to be adept at both; young people really don’t need to be taught how to read on the Net, but they do need to learn how to evaluate what they read, whether it’s online or in print form. And we all need more time for contemplation; our 24/7 culture puts us at risk for burn-out, a phenomenon I see happening quite often with the college students with whom I work, as well as with my colleagues. We have our priorities seriously out of order in 21st century U.S. society.