Do audiobooks count?
They really should
46% of Americans didn't read a book in 2023
121–130 of 181 posts
Re: 46% of Americans didn't read a book in 2023
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sadly, I agree with you. Between work and kids it just has to go. I am also blessed with no sleeping problems which means that I fall asleep the moment i go to bed. I try to read at least one book per year during vacation. I read so much when I was younger. I am not certain I will get the habit back when I get older.
Same. Can't say I miss it, either. Reading a book at this stage in my life (busy with kids) feels self-indulgent and selfish.
And yet, you gotta take time for yourself, too, lest you burn out.
Re: 46% of Americans didn't read a book in 2023
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about for people who don't have an imagination? Is there no difference between watching a movie and listening to an audiobook for them?
Everyone has an imagination. Some people have had it beaten out of them or were never taught to pay attention to it or use it, but everyone has one.
This is not true. I and many other people have aphantasia[0], our brains are simply unable to imagine visually the way other people are.
Re: 46% of Americans didn't read a book in 2023
#124I'm not sure how I feel about conflating audio-book consumption with reading. In my experience, when I listen to a book it goes in one ear and out the other; any studies that show information retention between the two?
Of course you have to actually listen. Audiobooks are fantastic when you're driving or washing dishes or doing any kind of manual work. They're pointless if you're trying to read something else with your eyes at the same time, or if you're otherwise distracted.
With those caveats, I have zero difficulty absorbing an audiobook. The only thing I'd say is that the narrator's performance definitely colors your impression of the book, for better or worse or just...different.
Re: 46% of Americans didn't read a book in 2023
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sorry but isn't this disingenuous? Reading a summary of the book in Wikipedia/Blinkist/ChatGPT is definitely not the same as the reading book. Sure, you may grasp at the central idea or argument superficially, but to understand it fully, with its caveats and nuances, and overarching context? You can regurgitate but not assimilate.
I dont think so. For "great works" all that stuff has been covered somewhere if you really care. You're putting way too much faith into people's intelligence (or projecting your own onto them) if you think people are picking up the nuanced bits just by reading. Which still to the thread starts point. All of that stuff could be captured in a diff medium and to my point if it's worth capturing in the first place can be…
Reading a good book is a closest approximation we have to actually meeting the author in person. There are books that I read years ago that had such a big emotional impact they probably affected my personality in some way. I barely remember a single youtube video I watched last week.
Re: 46% of Americans didn't read a book in 2023
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 18% of the U.S. population is functionally illiterate N.B. This stat appears to pertain to English language literacy, not literacy per se. Some of those 18%ers might be reading Dante in the original Italian or Shakespeare in the original Klingon.
> Shakespeare in the original Klingon citation needed
Hab SoSlI Quch.
Re: 46% of Americans didn't read a book in 2023
#127I have a hard time believing 54% did read a book. 18% of the U.S. population is functionally illiterate, and I don't know for you, I really don't feel like reading a book after I work the whole day at a computer.
I especially feel like reading a book after all day at the computer! That being said, there’s not always time for it.
Re: 46% of Americans didn't read a book in 2023
#128Why do we obsess so much over legacy form factors? Watching movies, listening to 2h conference talks, playing a 60h narrative videogame, and reading scientific papers in PDF may not be as noble, but they are equally meaningful to me.
You obviously don’t read good novels.
Re: 46% of Americans didn't read a book in 2023
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everyone has an imagination. Some people have had it beaten out of them or were never taught to pay attention to it or use it, but everyone has one.
This is not true. I and many other people have aphantasia[0], our brains are simply unable to imagine visually the way other people are. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia
Fair enough; I shouldn’t have said “everyone” because that’s obviously not true, but only pedantically, for the most part. It’s not insensitive to say “everyone has a nose” and mean “except the very small percentage of people that don’t have noses due to birth defects, trauma, or genetics”.
1-3% of people have aphantasia. That’s not everyone, but it’s close.
Re: 46% of Americans didn't read a book in 2023
#130having the time to read is such an incredible luxury in these economic times. I haven't done that in 5 years at least. Too busy trying to think of ways to prevent me from living under a bridge when I'm 60