Is the 'Death of Reading' Narrative Wrong? (www.persuasion.community) 71
Has the rise of hyper-addictive digital technologies really shattered our attention spans and driven books out of our culture? Maybe notargues social psychologist Adam Mastroianni (author of the Substack Experimental History):
As a psychologistI used to study claims like these for a livingso I know that the mind is primed to believe narratives of decline. We have a much lower standard of evidence for "bad thing go up" than we do for "bad thing go down." Unsurprisinglythenstories about the end of reading tend to leave out some inconvenient data points. For examplebook sales were higher in 2025 than they were in 2019and only a bit below their high point in the pandemic. Independent bookstores are boomingnot busting; at least 422 new indie shops opened in the United States last year alone. Even Barnes & Noble is cool again.
The actual data on readingmeanwhileisn't as apocalyptic as the headlines imply. Gallup surveys suggest that some mega-readers (11+ books per year) have become moderate readers (1-5 books per year)but they don't find any other major trends over the past three decades. Other surveys document similarly moderate declines. For instancedata from the National Endowment for the Arts finds a slight decrease in the percentage of U.S. adults who read any book in 2022 (49%) compared to 2012 (55%). And the American Time Use Survey shows a dip in reading time from 2003 to 2023. Ultimatelythe plausibility of the "death of reading" thesis depends on two judgment calls. Firstdo these effects strike you as big or small...? The second judgment call: Do you expect these trends to continueplateauor even reverse...?
There are signs that the digital invasion of our attention is beginning to stall. We seem to have passed peak social media — time spent on the apps has started to slide. App developers are finding it harder and harder to squeeze more attention out of our eyeballsand it turns out that having your eyeballs squeezed hurtsso people aren't sticking around for it... Fact #2: Reading has already survived several major incursionswhich suggests it's more appealing than we thought. RadioTVdial-upWi-FiTikTok — none of it has been enough to snuff out the human desire to point our pupils at words on paper... It is remarkableeven miraculousthat people who possess the most addictive devices ever invented will occasionally choose to turn those devices off and pick up a book instead.
The author mocks the "death of reading" hypothesis for implying that all the world's avid readers "were just filling time with great works of literature until TikTok came along."
The actual data on readingmeanwhileisn't as apocalyptic as the headlines imply. Gallup surveys suggest that some mega-readers (11+ books per year) have become moderate readers (1-5 books per year)but they don't find any other major trends over the past three decades. Other surveys document similarly moderate declines. For instancedata from the National Endowment for the Arts finds a slight decrease in the percentage of U.S. adults who read any book in 2022 (49%) compared to 2012 (55%). And the American Time Use Survey shows a dip in reading time from 2003 to 2023. Ultimatelythe plausibility of the "death of reading" thesis depends on two judgment calls. Firstdo these effects strike you as big or small...? The second judgment call: Do you expect these trends to continueplateauor even reverse...?
There are signs that the digital invasion of our attention is beginning to stall. We seem to have passed peak social media — time spent on the apps has started to slide. App developers are finding it harder and harder to squeeze more attention out of our eyeballsand it turns out that having your eyeballs squeezed hurtsso people aren't sticking around for it... Fact #2: Reading has already survived several major incursionswhich suggests it's more appealing than we thought. RadioTVdial-upWi-FiTikTok — none of it has been enough to snuff out the human desire to point our pupils at words on paper... It is remarkableeven miraculousthat people who possess the most addictive devices ever invented will occasionally choose to turn those devices off and pick up a book instead.
The author mocks the "death of reading" hypothesis for implying that all the world's avid readers "were just filling time with great works of literature until TikTok came along."
Is the 'Death of Reading' Narrative Wrong? More | Reply Login
Is the 'Death of Reading' Narrative Wrong?
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There are ten links in this summary. What is the method by which you decide the first sentence of the third link is the one that makes you decide whether to keep reading or not?
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It was the first one to provide a quick excuse to post a top level whine.
I assume. I haven't read any of them yet.
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So it doesn't matter which link it is. But in this case like I saidthe first sentence already made my head spin with warning signsit doesn't bode well for the rest of the content. Such is life.
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For the line he's taking such umbrage at.
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Not sure what you're complaining about. It wasn't bad. Are you one of those Americans who's irrationally patriotic about an Italian moonlighting for the Spanish?
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Here the first lines of another of his prose. He admits to writing stupid things online all the timeto the point he does not give his real name in job interviews. https://www.experimental-histo... [experimental-history.com]
A couple years agoI got a job interview at a big-name university and I had to decide whether to go undercover or not. On paperI looked like a normal candidate. But on the internetI was saying all sorts of wacko thingslike how it’s cool to ditch scientific journals and just publish your papers as blog posts instead.
Re:Garbage (Score:5Funny)
This is the first line from the linked article. Complete garbageI stopped reading after that.
Beholdthe death of reading.
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This is the first line from the linked article. Complete garbageI stopped reading after that.
Beholdthe death of reading.
Not only thatbut read all about the death of readingwhich you can't since reading is already dead.
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> "In fourteen hundred and ninety-twoColumbus sailed the ocean blue ... because he thought the apocalypse was coming"
A polarizing way to put itbut I was surprised to learn religious prophecies were part of his drive:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages... [pbs.org]
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WTF? The first line of the ARTICLE linked is "The hot new theory online is that reading is kaputand therefore civilization is too. The rise of hyper-addictive digital technologies has shattered our attention spans and extinguished our taste for text."
And over 10 books a year is a "mega-reader"? Guess that makes meand everyone I know megareaders...
Book Sales != Books Read (Score:2Flamebait)
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I buy books all the time that I don't end up reading.
?
Re:Book Sales != Books Read (Score:5Insightful)
It might surprise youbut that's a common thing. People get interested in booksbut then don't make up time for reading. A long time ago as graduate student I did not have internet at homeI was purchasing *and* reading a book every weekwhether an essay or a novel. Now I have internet and also a busy lifeand I can't make up time for reading anymore. I probably couldbut there so many other things I can push forward even on nights and week-ends: my main jobmy side hustlea hobby (e.g. street photography)contributing to some FOSStrying to play an instrument againplaying with the catoryou knowwaste time online.
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Exactly this.
I used to buy comics every week and read them. They stacked up to 2-6 inches. I was up to $75/week and decided to stop.
In the 20+ years since I haven't been able to get into reading comics again. When I look to buyI'm not easily interested. When I do buyI might not read it. That's a hobby that has sailed on for me.
I still buy other types of books. ebooks are good for novels. Put them on your phone and you always have it with you. If it draws you inyou'll make time. Until theni
Still reading here (Score:2Insightful)
Repeated story every 20 years (Score:5Informative)
Every 20 years or sowe get a "Death of Reading".
Printing press caused the death of reading by creating newspapers and cheap pamphlets. ...
Mass produced Paper back books...
Comic Books...
Color Magazines
The internet...
Smart Phones...
No. People that want to readstill read. The common folk that never read the 'right' words never read what the elitists think they should read. Book sales remain steady - though formats do change. We have a lot more ebooks and a lot less mass market paperbacks than we did 40 years ago.
Re:Repeated story every 20 years (Score:5Insightful)
Every 20 years or sowe get a "Death of Reading".
Printing press caused the death of reading by creating newspapers and cheap pamphlets. ...
Mass produced Paper back books...
Comic Books...
Color Magazines
The internet...
Smart Phones...
No. People that want to readstill read. The common folk that never read the 'right' words never read what the elitists think they should read. Book sales remain steady - though formats do change. We have a lot more ebooks and a lot less mass market paperbacks than we did 40 years ago.
And as usualthe argument on both sides can sometimes be lacking nuance.
On on handit is not a "death" of readingprobably a reduction.
And on the other handthese panics every 20 years are not without basisand probably worthy of some concern.
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They were fine and fun through most of the pandemic but then apparently AI because just "good enough" that those books that were kind poorly written by amateurs could suddenly be written by AI. Sadly those books are just terrible.
Maybe we'll go back to paperbacksbut I'm not sure. Hard to say when yo
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Reading will return (Score:3Interesting)
When your residential blocks electricity is on only 4 days a week in order to feed AI data centersthen we'll start trading books and reading again.
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Reading will return (Score:2Troll)
I wonder what the highest Troll rating you can get on Slashdot is.
I suppose you have to be modded Troll (which lowers the mod points)and then modded "Underrated" several times...?
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Slashdot seems to show the penultimate mod name in the current statusso if you get 3+ modsa troll mod and another +modyou'll show +5 troll to everyone who hasn't changed the karma effect in their settingsI think. You can recalculate it for any other situation from here.
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I'm somehow unintentionally very good at making posts that are very polarizing for people with mod points.
Maybe my joking quips hit a little too close to home for people on the extreme right and extreme left.
Although my sarcastic marxism jokes go over really well with the socialists I know. So who knows why people don't like me.
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Famously"Score: 5Troll" is possible and has happened.. Slashdot's score display has the label of the last ,moderation applied to the post--except that "Overrated" and "Underrated" mods don't change the label. Thusa Score: 5 post that is moderated as a Trolland then moderated as Underrated will show as "Score: 5Troll". Similarlya post can be "Score: -1Insightful."
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Will Amazon let you read non-AI written books? I don't honestly know. Certainly you'll get some AI generated ads by then. Seems like it is going to be a vicious cycle of scarcity in order to support our new masters.
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Re:Wrong (Score:5Interesting)
Public School teachers no longer assign book reports because their moronic snowflakes can not be bothered to read a full classic and then summarize it to write a simple report
Are you a parentand has this been your kid's experience? Because that's definitely not my middle-schooler's experience. She's on her fourth book of the school year for which she'll need to write a report.
I don't doubt there are other schools out there that have had to abandon book reportsbut I wonder how widespread it is. We're not in a particularly competitive school district (unlike our neighbors)so I don't think there's anything special about the kids in this school.
Books are Dead (Score:2Insightful)
When reading 11 books per year makes you a mega-reader and even 1 book a year makes you a moderate reader I think we can safely conclude that reading is dead.
Throughout the 80s and 90s I consistently read 1-2 books per weekand so did most of my friends. Granted most people read less but a book every few weeks was totally normal.
Nowadays I read maybe a quarter of the articles in 4 online newspapers every morninglisten to the odd audiobooks but otherwise it is all video. If I had the same access to video
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But people of all ages readas soon as they have learned to read. My daughter in the last 20 years has read more than I have. And in 20 yearsshe will read less than she has now. And then some smug person like you will project that because his friends and him aren't reading as much as beforereading is dead
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When i play online games I encounter a lot of 20 somethings.
It used to be that if someone listened to punk rock and programmed computers for funyou could almost assume they had read 1984 and if that same person liked drugsyou could safely guess they've read Brave New World as well.
Granted these kids are playing online games but once upon a time those were the kids in class who read serious books for fun.
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I read 1-2 books per DAYbeing retired and reading +-365 words a minute it's not that muchat least to me.
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That's not readingthoughit's skimming.
A really weird hobbybut I guess you're probably just daydreaming and holding a book.
If you really actually are actively skimming for that much timeand not just spacing outit really is exceptionally odd.
real stats (Score:2)
According to Goodreads via my Kindle...
I read 85,323 pages in 155 books in 2025down from 104,792 pages in 236 books in 2024. I was mostly retired in 2024 taking care of my mother.
I know I read more than a few physical books but I am too lazy to input them manually into Goodreads.
Re:real stats (Score:5Insightful)
Did Goodreads/Kindle take into account the variable number of words on a "page" due to ebook formatting?
In print bookssince mass market printing appearedthe number of words on a page is fairly well defined due to standard physical page sizestypefacesspacing and margins. This makes it possible to have a reasonably objective definition of pages of contentmodulo a small number of variations in book formats across publishers: So we all have a rough idea of how many words can be crammed into an average book page.
In the case of ebooksthe concept of "page" as a unit of information content is not meaningfulbecause everyone can change the display settings and reflow the text at will.
You should be quoting number of words read in 2025versus 2024.
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Good point. I usually read at 5 pt font which is smaller than the default but your point is very valid. I checked and GR doesn't track anything of real value beyond the number of pages in a printed volumebut many are e-books only so who knows...
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Reading is made easier by technology (Score:3)
Reading has been my main hobby for over 50 years.
The last few decades it has become easier due to eBooks.
My failing vision is less of an issueand the cost is a lot more reasonable.
I think that if children are rationed on screen timethat should not include reading ebooks.
I read mostly Science Fictionand a little bit of history.
Preferably Space Opera/Galactic Empire/ space fleet and alternative history.
"mega-readers (11+ books per year)"
LOL I have read at least 5 books so far this month (from NEW to READ) plus reread some old classic by authors like RAH
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Reading has been my main hobby for over 50 years.
The last few decades it has become easier due to eBooks.
My failing vision is less of an issueand the cost is a lot more reasonable.
I think that if children are rationed on screen timethat should not include reading ebooks.
I read mostly Science Fictionand a little bit of history.
Preferably Space Opera/Galactic Empire/ space fleet and alternative history.
"mega-readers (11+ books per year)"
LOL I have read at least 5 books so far this month (from NEW to READ) plus reread some old classic by authors like RAH
That is impressive... and admirable.
I would like to increase my readingbut I am sometimes put off by the cost of books (even ebooks). I have looked into librariesand they often have a good collection of ebooks which can be read online at no costbut as often as notthe book I am looking for is not available in the library as an ebook.
Please share your secrests for (a) keeping the cost downand (b) making time to read.
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The best way to keep costs down (legally) is to make a list of your local second hand bookstores and visit them in person. They can be specializedbut depending on your interests this means you have to hunt for the most suitable one.
When you visitdo not be put off by the books being in used conditionand sometimes in rough shape. You want to read them (presumably)not collect them. Since these bookstores also accept to buy booksyou can recoup a percentage of the cost late
Please share your secrests (Score:2)
(a) keeping the cost down
A Kindle Unlimited subscription is certainly good value
(b) making time to read.
I am retired now (Have been since July ''24 )
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You can just pirate if the cost is such a concern. Also there is a small "free library" within a few blocks and there are probably at least 5 wihin a mile of my home.
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Reading has been my main hobby for over 50 years.
The last few decades it has become easier due to eBooks.
My failing vision is less of an issueand the cost is a lot more reasonable.
I think that if children are rationed on screen timethat should not include reading ebooks.
I read mostly Science Fictionand a little bit of history.
Preferably Space Opera/Galactic Empire/ space fleet and alternative history.
"mega-readers (11+ books per year)"
LOL I have read at least 5 books so far this month (from NEW to READ) plus reread some old classic by authors like RAH
It's great to run into a fellow traveler. I'm plowing my way through Iain M. Banks' Culture series and Neal Stephenson's Baroque cycle right now. I just finished the Honorverseand before that it was a nostalgia tour through the Sprawl trilogythe Dune novels (Frank'snot his son's cash grab stuff) and yes -- I periodically revisit RAH's Future History and Tolkien's Middle Earth. :) I like to go on reading quests -- ever since I stumbled across the wikipedia page for hugo award winning novels twenty
Unmistakable and Irrefutable Decline (Score:2)
In 2024–2025 data releases:High school seniors (12th graders) had the lowest average reading scores since tracking began in 1992.
Only about 35% of 12th graders performed at or above "proficient" in readingwith around a third scoring below basic levels.
A problem from parentingdevices and schools.
Reading of fiction does not tell much (Score:2Troll)
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People reading (potentially lots of) fictional books may prove that they are able to readbut that does not tell us whether (1) they have good reading comprehension and could learn from non-fictional textsit also does not tell us whether (2) they are able to communicate actively. And it is (1) and (2) that I am most concerned with in young colleagueswith a recent addition of (3) have they outsourced thinking to LLMs? I really would not mind working with people who never read a single bookas long as they have been able and willing to read non-fiction texts (on whatever medium)comprehended themand are able to apply and communicate what they learned from them.
A more concerning symptom than "not reading books"from my observationis the immense popularity of few-seconds-short videos. Those videos are entirely incapable of transporting any meaningful amount of informationand my suspicion is that those consuming such videos en masse have developed severe attention span deficits.
Speaking of poor communication comprehensionwho modded this appropriateon-topicmildreasoned comment as Troll?
It raises a perfectly legitimate question. I personally know several people who do not read fiction for entertainment at allbut are highly communicative critical thinkers who have written non-fiction books in their field. And on the other endI have worked with many people who are always reading entertaining fictionyet cannot compose structured explanatory documents or create clear instr
The Death of Reading (Score:5Interesting)
...has been greatly exaggerated. (to paraphrase Mr. Twain)
Source: I own a bookstore.
Short attention span is a real thing. It has effected me and many others of my age. Personal computersthe internetand mobile phones all came along during our lives. When I was young there was no (publicly accessible) interneta trip to the library was a rare eventand no one was going to waste good money buying a book for a child. As I grew up and had my own meansbooks became plentiful in my life. As a teen BBSs came about. Downloads took FOREVER for even something simple. ... Now everything is available online instantly. Information and entertainment in shorteasybites. I certainly feel the urge to switch topics as soon as something becomes "boring"to sample and move on.
But... people still read. The more educated people read a lot as they grew up and throughout their studiesand it is a habit they have maintained. Those who struggled thru high school barely read thenand don't read now. The children who grew up with phones and tablets in handthey DEMAND that their parents buy them real physical books. There are definitely generations in the middle who just don't read -anything. They proudly announce that they have never read an entire book in their lives. Butfortunatelythey are not everyone. Reading is a habit for someand not for others.
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"The more educated people read a lot as they grew up and throughout their studiesand it is a habit they have maintained. Those who struggled thru high school barely read thenand don't read now."
I was an avid reader in my teensand per the WAIS-R was of a "significantly above average" (but nowhere near MENSA level) IQfor whatever that may be worth. I also struggled in many aspects of school (mostly socialetc. I was one of the early ones getting the diagnosis of ADD and later ADHD) while being that a
Judgement calls (Score:2)
Like the "slight decrease in the percentage of U.S. adults who read any book in 2022 (49%) compared to 2012 (55%)"which is a decline of more than 10% in 10 years? I wouldn't call that a "slight" decrease in any meaning of the word.
Alsoas others already notedwhen reading 11 books per year is supposed to constitute a "mega-reader" then this very much looks like someone purposefully belittling the problem.
I read tonsjust not on paper. (Score:2)
I don't even know where I could even get a hardcopy version of Moses T. Runnels' two-volume History of SanborntonNew Hampshiretotaling around 1,700 pages or so and published in 1882. But I frequently consult the PDF version I downloaded from one of the numerous web sites that has it available. Then there's my OverDrive Libby accountwhich gives me access to the holdings of something like eight library networks covering virtually all of a stateplus a university library or two. I voraciously consume
Sounds like hogwash (Score:2)
Reading more than ever (Score:2)
I read more but w than I have in my past 50-some years. The difference for me was an electronic deviceand a well known one you’ve certainly heard ofand some of you probably hate. It’s so easy to have a dozen or more books with methey don’t weigh a tonand I don’t need to worry about needing light to read by. I read an average of 20-25 books per year now. It’s replaced a fair bit of tv/movies/gaming for me.
Reading booksor reading per se? (Score:2)
"Number of words read"nowthat's an entirely different metric. As is "Number of words written". But that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish. Fishwellthat's a different story.
11 Books a year = "Megareader"? (Score:2)
Buying books != reading books. (Score:2)
"For examplebook sales were higher in 2025 than they were in 2019and only a bit below their high point in the pandemic. Independent bookstores are boomingnot busting; at least 422 new indie shops opened in the United States last year alone. Even Barnes & Noble is cool again."
My roommate is a person who is constantly on TikTok and such. All they do is watch and reshare short form. They buy lots of booksbut they don't read. They don't have the ability to because it cannot hold their attention. The
Mega-readers 11+? (Score:2)
Sampling pools matter (Score:2)
headlines count right (Score:1)
Why you asking me? I didn't get past the headline...
Reading has a higher bandwidth (Score:2)
If you can't readthen you are as crippled as a person who can't use the internet. 8-)
Video runs between 30 to 60 words per minute. Even if it is accelerated it is only about twice that. It goes by the speed people can hear.
Reading goes by the speed people can seewhich can be much faster. Forget the old saying that 30 fps is maxthat is wrong. Tests show that the human eyein good lightingcan see text projected for only 1/10000 of a second. With a little practicepeople can read hundreds of words p
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