Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Reading Ourselves to Death

thenewatlantis.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 80 posts

Re: Reading Ourselves to Death

#21

Post by m_mueller »

sabellito wrote: post #16
wizofaus wrote: post #14

I've regretted hours spent watching TV, playing computer games, trying to figure out how to complete a task with no information available, being stuck waiting somewhere with nothing to do, but I can't think of a case I've regretted time spent reading. There may be people in the world whose lives would be improved by reading less, but I'm guessing a vanishingly small number.

I feel the same way but I don't know why. Even when I spend time reading average fiction, it still feels better than watching youtube.

I think it’s just like the difference of being spoon fed some yoghurt compared to having a full course dinner. That being said I still find YouTube better than Netflix, or worse, TV in that regard - at least you chose the yoghurt and some of it is actually pretty healthy (e.g. some of the top notch educational content).

Re: Reading Ourselves to Death

#22

Post by harry8 »

wizofaus wrote: post #14

I've regretted hours spent watching TV, playing computer games, trying to figure out how to complete a task with no information available, being stuck waiting somewhere with nothing to do, but I can't think of a case I've regretted time spent reading. There may be people in the world whose lives would be improved by reading less, but I'm guessing a vanishingly small number.

How about the time spent reading this (Schrodinger's value) comment on an internet social media site?

Re: Reading Ourselves to Death

#23

Post by lustforleif »

parmenidean wrote: post #18
nonrandomstring wrote: post #11

Nice riff on Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death". The focus is really on the danger of over-reliance on one faculty. But I suppose the same could be said for an aural-only world of radio and podcasts. I disagreed that video would be an edited "reality". Image is no more than the way the world looks as opposed to how it sounds or is described by text. Ultimately the ability to synthesise these faculties is what the…

Somewhat ironic given I suspect Postman would disagree with the majority of this article. This article asserts that the amount of engagement with the written word has gone up dramatically; "Amusing Ourselves To Death" has an entire chapter dedicated to demonstrating how much more early Americans engaged with written work. Consumption of books per capita was far higher in the 18th century than it is today, the literac…

When Postman refers to written word he refers mainly to books. The article mentions the increase of hours spent reading text as a result of texting, social media etc. This form of written word is actually close to Postman's concerns.

It's written word, but its metaphor is the same as the metaphor of mediums like TV.

Re: Reading Ourselves to Death

#25

Post by einpoklum »

Sebb767 wrote: post #8
einpoklum wrote: post #6

> What would your grasp of the outside world feel like? ... increasingly ... simplified, abstracted, flattened ... More to the contrary. The more you see selected still images and video clips, the more your perception of the world through this becomes shallow, simplistic, garish. It is the written text which delves into complexity, the multitude of facets and nuances, depth.

This is a take on the allegory of the cave[0]: > In the allegory "The Cave," Socrates describes a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them and give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners' reality, but are not accurate representations of the real wo…

... which is funny, because IIRC Socrates was trying to get people recognize "ideal forms", perfect truths, as opposed to their imperfect manifestations/reflections in the world.

Re: Reading Ourselves to Death

#26

Post by paulpauper »

If an alien landed on Earth today, it might assume that reading and writing are our species’ main function, second only to sleeping and well ahead of eating and reproducing.

what about:

watching tv

driving

playing video games

watching porn

watching video online

podcasts/audio books

Re: Reading Ourselves to Death

#27

Post by wizofaus »

harry8 wrote: post #22
wizofaus wrote: post #14

I've regretted hours spent watching TV, playing computer games, trying to figure out how to complete a task with no information available, being stuck waiting somewhere with nothing to do, but I can't think of a case I've regretted time spent reading. There may be people in the world whose lives would be improved by reading less, but I'm guessing a vanishingly small number.

How about the time spent reading this (Schrodinger's value) comment on an internet social media site?

It's opinions I disagree with that I often feel are the more valuable to spend time reading.

Re: Reading Ourselves to Death

#28

Post by nonrandomstring »

parmenidean wrote: post #18
nonrandomstring wrote: post #11

Nice riff on Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death". The focus is really on the danger of over-reliance on one faculty. But I suppose the same could be said for an aural-only world of radio and podcasts. I disagreed that video would be an edited "reality". Image is no more than the way the world looks as opposed to how it sounds or is described by text. Ultimately the ability to synthesise these faculties is what the…

Somewhat ironic given I suspect Postman would disagree with the majority of this article. This article asserts that the amount of engagement with the written word has gone up dramatically; "Amusing Ourselves To Death" has an entire chapter dedicated to demonstrating how much more early Americans engaged with written work. Consumption of books per capita was far higher in the 18th century than it is today, the literac…

> This article suggests that the written word is a crutch for thought

I got that too. And yes, also ironic for the author (a writer of some kind) to be advancing a seemingly anti-literary agenda.

Re: Reading Ourselves to Death

#29

Post by PartiallyTyped »

paulpauper wrote: post #26

If an alien landed on Earth today, it might assume that reading and writing are our species’ main function, second only to sleeping and well ahead of eating and reproducing. what about: watching tv driving playing video games watching porn watching video online podcasts/audio books

All of them involve reading and/or writing of some kind.

Re: Reading Ourselves to Death

#30

Post by themadturk »

I had a friend tell me the other day they're amazed at the number of "important films that everyone has seen" that I haven't seen. I told them, a person who endlessly views TV series and movies that while I enjoy those media, my primary media is written, not video. I can read a book for hours at a time, but unless I'm in a theater, I'm always checking how much longer the thing is going to play, no matter how much I'm enjoying it.

Doomscrolling anything...Reddit, Twitter, even HN...can be a waste of time, and of course I've done it many times. But I've never felt I lost anything while reading a book. I'm one of those people who read the back of cereal boxes when I was a kid. Getting drawn into a text-based fictional world may be an abstraction, but I'll take it anytime.

Post reply on HN