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No Spanish reading crisis?

commonreader.co.uk

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Re: No Spanish reading crisis?

#11

Post by erelong »

I think from seeing articles like this a few times, that there's a lack of definition from people as what counts as "real reading" and about what materials "count as real reading"

(since I think probably people are reading these days more than ever - it just may be on forums like HN, social media, and AI output, etc.)

so if you just define that specifically then we could just promote it on social media, people reading these specific things, and then "boom" more people are "really reading"

(I presume people want to see more people reading "Great Books of Classic Literature" which is probably a great goal, things like Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" or Dante's "The Divine Comedy", etc.)

Re: No Spanish reading crisis?

#12

Post by the_af »

outime wrote: post #4

>Democracy is safe in Spain! Honestly, this sounds like a shitpost and I'd remove the line if I was the author. That aside, I really don't understand the glorification of reading. I love reading (also I'm Spanish) and I do it every day, but reading can also just mean reading romance novels and living in a parallel unrealistic world, and that doesn't make you or "democracy" better than a non-reader that may be a movie…

Re: the glorification of reading.

I've thought about this. I agree with you not all reading is equal, and reading social posts (including HN) is the equivalent of junk food, but there's something about reading that sets it apart. I think it's like exercising. Reading engages parts of the mind not exercised otherwise, it requires a more active imagination, it often involves "adult" mechanisms like delayed gratification that are less present in other forms of communication. It's more active and less frictionless than many internet activities, watching TV, etc. That's why it's sometimes a struggle to find a moment to read, and why young people often don't do it: it requires more effort than competing activities (this struggle also applies to physical activity, of course!). And this effort does something positive to your brain, I think. I'd say given two forms of trash entertainment, one trashy literature, and the other a trashy TV show, the former is better for you than the latter.

Just in case anyone wants to debate this, I am NOT saying watching TV is completely frictionless or requires no imagination at all, and of course there's a lot of variance in which specific show or movie. I'm only arguing in relative terms.

Re: No Spanish reading crisis?

#13

Post by world2vec »

bcjdjsndon wrote: post #5

If youre only counting books I haven't read anything for maybe a decade. And I maybe read about a hundred hours in life total before that. If you include a screen I've read everyday for the past 25+ years

IMHO screens and audio don't count as reading books.

Re: No Spanish reading crisis?

#15

Post by KaiserPro »

world2vec wrote: post #13
bcjdjsndon wrote: post #5

If youre only counting books I haven't read anything for maybe a decade. And I maybe read about a hundred hours in life total before that. If you include a screen I've read everyday for the past 25+ years

IMHO screens and audio don't count as reading books.

Could you expand on the audiobook part?

Im assuming that screens dont count because its not novels/literature

but audio books are the same content but delivered by a different medium, I am genuinely curious as to your opinion on is not counting

Re: No Spanish reading crisis?

#16

Post by n4r9 »

outime wrote: post #4

>Democracy is safe in Spain! Honestly, this sounds like a shitpost and I'd remove the line if I was the author. That aside, I really don't understand the glorification of reading. I love reading (also I'm Spanish) and I do it every day, but reading can also just mean reading romance novels and living in a parallel unrealistic world, and that doesn't make you or "democracy" better than a non-reader that may be a movie…

> that doesn't make you or "democracy" better than a non-reader that may be a movie watcher addict

I dunno. There's something to be said for having the focus to sit down and read through a book. It suggests someone is a little more comfortable with their own thoughts and doesn't succumb to constant tech distractions. Which in turn suggests an ability to think more clearly and less emotively about politics.

Re: No Spanish reading crisis?

#17

Post by paulryanrogers »

world2vec wrote: post #13
bcjdjsndon wrote: post #5

If youre only counting books I haven't read anything for maybe a decade. And I maybe read about a hundred hours in life total before that. If you include a screen I've read everyday for the past 25+ years

IMHO screens and audio don't count as reading books.

The article doesn't distinguish reading books from reading anything else. Though it's pretty short and light on details. The article it cites strongly implies the reading is only books.

All that said, [I find] reading books is overrated. They're often outdated, low effort slop, and even more so in this AI era.

Re: No Spanish reading crisis?

#18

Post by world2vec »

KaiserPro wrote: post #15
world2vec wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO screens and audio don't count as reading books.

Could you expand on the audiobook part? Im assuming that screens dont count because its not novels/literature but audio books are the same content but delivered by a different medium, I am genuinely curious as to your opinion on is not counting

I just think listening to a book is not the same as actually reading it. Just my personal preference, really, and I'm not knocking down on audiobooks.

Listening to audiobooks, IMHO, is a more passive and less focused way of consuming literature.

Re: No Spanish reading crisis?

#19

Post by thfuran »

KaiserPro wrote: post #15
world2vec wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO screens and audio don't count as reading books.

Could you expand on the audiobook part? Im assuming that screens dont count because its not novels/literature but audio books are the same content but delivered by a different medium, I am genuinely curious as to your opinion on is not counting

And it’s my understanding that, auditory vs visual processing aside, studies demonstrate that the brain activation is essentially identical between reading a book and listening to it.

Re: No Spanish reading crisis?

#20

Post by world2vec »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #17
world2vec wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO screens and audio don't count as reading books.

The article doesn't distinguish reading books from reading anything else. Though it's pretty short and light on details. The article it cites strongly implies the reading is only books. All that said, [I find] reading books is overrated. They're often outdated, low effort slop, and even more so in this AI era.

How could fiction books become outdated? That is an absolutely alien opinion for me!

-edit- I said "non-fiction" when I meant "fiction". Of course non-fiction books become obsolete quite fast sometimes.

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