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It seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history

theatlantic.com

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Re: It seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history

#121

Post by rvshchwl »

sdevonoes wrote: post #2

For me, reading used to be a way to enjoy part of my free time. Nowadays is still that but it’s also a way to relax. Even though I don’t have accounts in the main social media networks (instagram, fb, twitter, youtube, etc) I still consume them indirectly on a weekly basis (e.g., i like to watch videoclips in YT, a friend sends me a twitter link, etc). It makes me anxious. I’ve realised that consuming in tiny bits (s…

I realized this recently as well, on how much social media has started affected me. I've made some changes to how I use my phone now but haven't seen a lot of improvement overall, basically because I've found that there is "Social Media" everywhere I go. I removed all the Meta apps from my phone and found myself spending more time on LinkedIn. Removed that and I end up on Reddit. I do feel better about not being on FB and Instagram anymore though which I found were the biggest source of my wasted time. I'm not able to fully limit all the apps, and that may just come over time with better habits.

The positive upside to all of this has been that I've been reading more in general. Finished 2 books last month, and almost done with a 3rd one. Not having any of the main apps on my phone just has meant that I end up reaching for a book or something physical to occupy my time, which in general has been a better use of my time.

Re: It seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history

#122

Post by Aurornis »

giraffe_lady wrote: post #17
apparent wrote: post #16

> Adult-literacy scores have also dropped: Nearly 30 percent of American adults cannot paraphrase or make inferences from a multipage text. In 2017, that number was less than 20 percent. Shrinking the passages on the SAT from full-page to a few sentences will exacerbate this trend.

I don't think I learned this skill from the sat.

For better or worse, testing was used as an assortative matching between students and universities they applied for. Though far from perfect, a university that set their acceptance bar at a certain level could expect incoming students to at least be at or around that level.

The less rigorous the filtering, the more you have to accommodate the lower ends of the incoming students’ abilities. So as standardized testing is softened, so too is the curriculum that students are exposed to.

There is a movement against standardized testing that gained traction in the past decade, arguing that because it’s flawed and imperfect we should abandon it. The movement never had a good replacement for it, though, so the shift was toward looser standards and judging students based on vibes and non-academic measures. Many of the universities that went this direction are reversing course and adding standardized testing back now because the reality of higher education is that you need to filter incoming students by some academic measurements if you want to be able raise the bar for your curriculum.

The effects cascade everywhere. In a perfect utopia everyone would get individualized perfect tutoring and we wouldn’t have to worry about testing, but in the world we inhabit a lot of the education decisions and realities are downstream of what we can test for.

Re: It seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history

#123

Post by lubujackson »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #114
apparent wrote: post #16

> Adult-literacy scores have also dropped: Nearly 30 percent of American adults cannot paraphrase or make inferences from a multipage text. In 2017, that number was less than 20 percent. Shrinking the passages on the SAT from full-page to a few sentences will exacerbate this trend.

Hmm. If someone knew the number of graduates from 2017 to 2026, they could estimate what fraction of them could paraphrase and make inferences. My stab at it: Looks like about 36 million high school graduates from 2017 to 2026. The US population is about 350 million. 20% of 350 million is 70 million, so 70 million people couldn't paraphrase in 2017. 30% is 105 million, so 105 million people couldn't in 2026. That mea…

That assumes the shift was entirely due to high school students becoming adults. There are also people who haven't read much over those years and have had their skills declined to the point of failure. Or, also likely, sample size issues.

Re: It seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history

#124

Post by wvenable »

_doctor_love wrote: post #21

We were in an age of reading? I gave up about 10 years ago on people as readers. I have recommended so many books and articles to software people over the years and it's honestly depressing how many people have told me they don't like to read. Like...you're a programmer? And you don't like to read? I assumed that people who enjoy software would be into intellectual stimulation but I've learned that this is wrong. Mor…

> I assumed that people who enjoy software would be into intellectual stimulation but I've learned that this is wrong.

Perhaps the fact that our jobs are intellectual is the problem. I find that at the end of the day I don't have the capacity for intellectual pursuits and I find physical hobbies / activities more relaxing. I suspect the opposite is probably also true.

Re: It seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history

#125

Post by surgical_fire »

lp4v4n wrote: post #23

It's been my impression that classic literature is going the same way as painting and other forms of high art. It was certainly a great display of human intellectual prowess and artistic capacity in bygone times when the world moved at a much slower pace, but who has the time and the energy to read a long novel today? Even cinema is dying and nobody seems to care that much.

> Even cinema is dying and nobody seems to care that much.

Ever since cinema got reduced to the next Marvel superhero movie, I stopped caring about it.

Re: It seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history

#126

Post by OkayPhysicist »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #114
apparent wrote: post #16

> Adult-literacy scores have also dropped: Nearly 30 percent of American adults cannot paraphrase or make inferences from a multipage text. In 2017, that number was less than 20 percent. Shrinking the passages on the SAT from full-page to a few sentences will exacerbate this trend.

Hmm. If someone knew the number of graduates from 2017 to 2026, they could estimate what fraction of them could paraphrase and make inferences. My stab at it: Looks like about 36 million high school graduates from 2017 to 2026. The US population is about 350 million. 20% of 350 million is 70 million, so 70 million people couldn't paraphrase in 2017. 30% is 105 million, so 105 million people couldn't in 2026. That mea…

You're making the assumption that the change in absolute terms is entirely driven by deficient additions to the population. It's just as possible that some portion of the population lost their skill by allowing it to atrophy from underuse.

Re: It seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history

#127

Post by esseph »

smith7018 wrote: post #25
lp4v4n wrote: post #23

It's been my impression that classic literature is going the same way as painting and other forms of high art. It was certainly a great display of human intellectual prowess and artistic capacity in bygone times when the world moved at a much slower pace, but who has the time and the energy to read a long novel today? Even cinema is dying and nobody seems to care that much.

Many people still read novels. I live in NYC and see numerous people read books and Kindles every day on the train. > Even cinema is dying and nobody seems to care that much It's being replaced with an even longer form of visual media; the mini series. Stories that used to be told in an hour and a half are now being told in 8 hour-long segments

> It's being replaced with an even longer form of visual media; the mini series

Short form video on YouTube, TikTok, and various AI short form video apps are also spiking in popularity.

Re: It seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history

#128

Post by RobKohr »

functionmouse wrote: post #73
tomwheeler wrote: post #5

[flagged]

It's true; I also started reading the comments before clicking the article. Show of hands?

I made it about 15% through the article, but that is a about normal for the Atlantic.

They generally get their point across and then rattle on for more time than I am interested in reading.

Guess I'm part of the post literate world. I also perfer short stories instead of novels.

Re: It seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history

#129

Post by anthonypasq »

trimbo wrote: post #10
cphoover wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm afraid I am addicted to short-form video and wish I could go back to spending more of my free-time reading books.

The Brick has been helping me with phone overuse. getbrick.com (I have no association with the company) On your laptop, route those sites to localhost.

very cool, probably gonna get one, ty!
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