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

Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

nbcnews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 350 posts

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#61

Post by watwut »

larrik wrote: post #51
an0malous wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Devil’s advocate: what’s the point? Is it important to have reading and writing skills if everything can be transcribed through AI? Or maybe it’s not directly important, but the ability to hold your attention on something for 30-60 minutes is? Is reading the best medium for education, or something more like Kahn Academy videos? I also wonder how the Montessori schools are doing, since I believe they focus less on rot…

The point is that "doing hard things" is required to be a successful adult. Meanwhile, the bar for what constitutes a "hard thing" is dropping fast.

When I used to read for pleasure, I did it because it was pleasurable. Not because it would be the hard thing. It was fun and easy.

What this particular chain of thoughts shows is that adults don't read for pleasure either, they associate it with an uncomfortable hard thing one should to do "build character".

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#62

Post by nickthegreek »

general1465 wrote: post #8

I am not reading either for pleasure. I am reading so much during my daily life (Documentation, coding, manuals, logs) that reading for pleasure sounds like a bad joke.

This is why I prefer audibooks piped through my whole house sonos. It allows me to consume long form while walking around the house completing various projects. Reading isn't a chore, but the thing I engage in while doing chores.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#63

Post by AngryData »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #11
galleywest200 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kids were playing a ton of online games before Minecraft.

Yes and no Up until the 2010s I think it was still a lot less socially normal to play a lot of games. We reached a tipping point somewhere that went from gaming being a sometimes activity for kids to basically every kid plays games Most of the people in my high school in the 2000s didn't play games as a primary hobby. Only a few of my friends had a PC for games or a console. It wasn't nearly as ubiquitous as it is no…

The release of the Xbox coincided with what I viewed as a big jump in video game players. Even the biggest athletic jocks played a ton of Halo. And then not long after that saw much older people start playing games like CoD:MW as after work entertainment instead of just tv.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#64

Post by CuriouslyC »

xpct wrote: post #23

Question: do you think reading is fundamentally worthwhile in terms of practicality, or is there some other medium that would achieve both pleasure and better information retention? I think it's undeniable that a lot of good comes from reading, and many here would probably agree it's better than scrolling Instagram reels or even watching YouTube videos. Still, reading by itself is just one medium that we found useful…

I used to read a ton of fiction as a kid, and continued into my late 30s. My reading for pleasure has dropped precipitously of late though, in large part because it gives less dopamine than other things I can do that also make the "productivity" centers of my brain light up. I still read a lot, but it's skewed towards geopolitics, economics and analyses, and most if it is short-form.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#65

Post by xpct »

watwut wrote: post #57
forlorn_mammoth wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Question: do you think reading is fundamentally worthwhile in terms of practicality, or is there some other medium that would achieve both pleasure and better information retention? If your quality bar is 'better information retention' then reading is going to be hard to beat. Videos/podcasts don't measure up. 'pleasure' is hard to measure, and gets confounded because reading takes more effort than watching a video…

Listening to podcast is not easier then reading. It requires constant attention and does not really allow you to take a break without loosing on. In a lot of ways it is harder and more tiresome. You are free to do some other easy thing while doing it, it can be more engaging due to voices and sounds, but it does not take less effort then reading.

I suppose this varies depending on what type of material is covered in the podcast. We typically assume it contains surface-level content, as their primary purpose is entertainment, but the answer would probably change if we were talking about a lecture.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#66

Post by watwut »

xpct wrote: post #65
watwut wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Listening to podcast is not easier then reading. It requires constant attention and does not really allow you to take a break without loosing on. In a lot of ways it is harder and more tiresome. You are free to do some other easy thing while doing it, it can be more engaging due to voices and sounds, but it does not take less effort then reading.

I suppose this varies depending on what type of material is covered in the podcast. We typically assume it contains surface-level content, as their primary purpose is entertainment, but the answer would probably change if we were talking about a lecture.

Reading for pleasure does not imply reading difficult in depth content. Reading for pleasure was reading with entertainment as a primary purpose.

Both reading and podcasts cover range of difficulties and topics.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#67

Post by bluefirebrand »

AngryData wrote: post #63
bluefirebrand wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no Up until the 2010s I think it was still a lot less socially normal to play a lot of games. We reached a tipping point somewhere that went from gaming being a sometimes activity for kids to basically every kid plays games Most of the people in my high school in the 2000s didn't play games as a primary hobby. Only a few of my friends had a PC for games or a console. It wasn't nearly as ubiquitous as it is no…

The release of the Xbox coincided with what I viewed as a big jump in video game players. Even the biggest athletic jocks played a ton of Halo. And then not long after that saw much older people start playing games like CoD:MW as after work entertainment instead of just tv.

I would say the Xbox 360 is when it really started to take off, personally

Halo 2 was when many people started gaming

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#68

Post by xpct »

watwut wrote: post #66
xpct wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose this varies depending on what type of material is covered in the podcast. We typically assume it contains surface-level content, as their primary purpose is entertainment, but the answer would probably change if we were talking about a lecture.

Reading for pleasure does not imply reading difficult in depth content. Reading for pleasure was reading with entertainment as a primary purpose. Both reading and podcasts cover range of difficulties and topics.

Yes, we agree on this.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#69

Post by Hnrobert42 »

socalgal2 wrote: post #20

Recommendations? What are you reading? I recently enjoyed a few books of the "We are Legion, We are Bob" series

I read the Wheel of Time series. It's all I read. It took about 18 months. It's great, though. I'm sad it's over, and I'm going to miss the characters.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#70

Post by scorpioxy »

asdff wrote: post #42
05 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing with analogies, we can make them go either way. It's like having sex after a whole day of sex work. Exhausting.

Have you never read a good book you can't put down?

I can empathize with the commenter you're replying to. I still read for pleasure and have to read constantly for work of course. On some days, I feel like I can't. It is like exercising the same muscle every day which will lead to injury in a short amount of time. Switching to audiobooks or just taking a break does resolve that.

From what I am seeing around me though, reading for pleasure or even to gain knowledge has decreased a lot. I noticed it in adults first and this is being reflected in their children.

Post reply on HN