From Intellectual Takeout:
Ah! It’s a lovely Friday evening. You’ve had a successful work week and now it’s time to have some quiet relaxation. You have a book on the coffee table you’ve been wanting to delve into – but first, a quick glance at social media is in order.
Several hours and several videos later, you realize it’s time to head for bed, which you do, hating yourself all the way for having wasted the little time you had to exercise your mind through reading.
I’ll be the first to raise my hand and confess to having done the above – more times than I care to admit. And unless I miss my guess, I’m not alone in this folly.
I make this claim based not only on the knowledge of human nature, but also on a recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Released annually, the American Time Use Survey breaks down the way Americans spend their hours, particularly those hours devoted to free time.
Of the hours devoted to free time, one area in particular is rather shortchanged. That area is reading.
Overall, Americans only spend 17 minutes per day in reading activities. As The Washington Post explains, this number has dropped six minutes since 2004. Broken down by age range, those in the millennial generation read the least, averaging seven minutes a day. Those in the 75 and older age range average 51 minutes per day.
. . . .
But things really start to soar when we come to the games/computer and television categories. The average American spends 28 minutes on the former and a whopping two hours and 46 minutes on the latter!
Link to the rest at Intellectual Takeout
what’s a ‘coffee table?’
I wonder if they include reading ebooks as device time. He mentions a book on the coffee table as if this is 1953. People don’t have a lot of either. I don’t have numbers on this but I seem to recall Amazon doing business in the billions on just books. And it seems to go up every year. I know I’m certainly making more money than I used to. Someone is reading and they are reading a hell of a lot.
I do not understand why people seem to think that because a story is told visually it is less of a story than one you read.
Fiction is fiction. I love reading, and I love watching TV and movies. I learn from every storytelling medium, including soap operas, which are universally condemned by, well, everyone but soap fans. If you want to learn how to tell a story that will keep your readers involved even though they know exactly where you’re heading with it, watch a soap opera. If you want to see how to redeem a seemingly irredeemable villain, watch a soap opera. If you want to learn how to make a twin story realistic–well, read up on twins, because while I love the soap twins trope, it’s ridiculous. 🙂
I often will buy the novel to a movie or TV show that I like. So in my case, viewing causes more reading.
I try to learn the art of storytelling from every storytelling tool I find. And then I write my books, hopefully for the better because of it.
This. All of this. And especially this: I try to learn the art of storytelling from every storytelling tool I find. And then I write my books, hopefully for the better because of it.
The OP: Wrong on the internet. Probably wrong everywhere else, too 🙂
A look at the story reveals no examples of “today’s lack of clear thinking,” which makes it difficult to evaluate her thesis.
So I’ll fall back on the rule that says, “The answer to any headline that asks a question is ‘no’.”
I’m thinking the OP is the one lacking in ‘clear thinking’.
Reading or watching cat videos has nothing to do with clear thinking and everything to do about what that person sees as more entertaining.
And ‘forcing’ yourself to do something you don’t feel like doing at that time will not improve its entertainment value.
Well said. We ‘make’ time for the activities we enjoy. Clearly the writer sees reading as ‘educational’ or ‘edifying’ or just plain boring.
I can’t guess at the writer’s age, but I’d bet my life he/she was subjected to ‘educational’ and ‘edifying’ books all through school.
By contrast, kids who are allowed to simply enjoy books, of any kind, including graphic novels and comics, don’t develop an aversion to reading and often become voracious readers later in life. I speak as an ex-teacher.