Has the internet dis-enabled us to read?
@HappyObeyChen (28)
China
January 20, 2013 6:27am CST
Hi everyone!First of all please forgive my poor English :).
I just realized an annoying thing.Today I picked up two books I bought last year and read them in my bed and I terribly found myself unable to read them!I always got distracted every 5 minutes and couldn't focus on the book,what was more frustrating is that I always forgot what I read about the last sentence while reading the following one. At last,I could only finish 20 pages in 2 hours and it was driving me crazy! @_@
Afterwards I began to consider where this problem came from,and I think it's because of the internet.A famous blogger in my country(who decided to quit the internet for a while)realized this before I did,he said other than the psychological problems caused by our addiction to webs like Facebook and Twitter(which are banned in China but we have similar webs),the internet in fact kills our ability of actual reading!
After years and years of living on the internet we became masters of picking information,we can digest what we need from 100 tweets,and this process can be finished within 5 minutes!We become faster but thoughtless,we know what this tweet tells but we suddenly forget what the last one said!This is because we encounter so much information and our brain needs to sweep out the old one to leave a room for a new one.
This makes us only able to read in pieces and we become messed up when a whole book is needed to read...
Is anyone suffering this?
1 person likes this
11 responses
@Mavic123456 (21893)
• Thailand
20 Jan 13
but if you are surfing the net aren't you reading too? like reading news on the net, reading something spectacular event that happened to the world, something new in technology field.. something different everyday. so why will it disable you from reading, when your read as you surf.
hmmm come to think of it, if you surf, you see pictures too sometimes, when you read depends on the book.
back to the discussion.
maybe you have lost your interest in reading the book you bought since it was a year ago. maybe you need to find another book that will interest you.
@Mavic123456 (21893)
• Thailand
20 Jan 13
that's it, unlike internet, though texts are straining to the eyes they have some photos to show, too.
@HappyObeyChen (28)
• China
20 Jan 13
Of course we read news and articles on the internet as well.But it's just been a custom that I only read the title and 1st paragraph of the article and quickly skip to the next one.After this becoming a habit,my longtime reading ability is ruined....:(
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
20 Jan 13
The internet has affected many people by luring them away from their previous pastimes and therefore removing their familiarity and practice with whatever they previous did. However, I cannot imagine that reading ability would be reduced by this, after all you cannot realistically spend much time online without reading.
I can accept that the internet has reduced the use of books, but not that it would encumber our ability to read them.
@HappyObeyChen (28)
• China
21 Jan 13
This is exactly what I'm talking about!I didn't mean that we don't read on the internet.On the contrary we do a lot of reading (I think more than we did in the time without internet).When you are on the internet you encounter with words and pics every second,this didn't happen before(Can you imagine reading books with words and pics continuously for 8-12 hours everyday?).Thus we became reading in pieces because our brain cannot absorb all the information during the 8-12 hours of reading...
And when we actually move to book-reading, we become unable to read uninterruptedly.
@berting600 (3453)
• Philippines
20 Jan 13
To tell you frankly,I still read books to satisfy my curiosity to certain things and I do not wanted to search in the internet,because it flashes too many information,that I do not want any to copy,because I was confused what to copy.I used the internet only to chat and find my other friends.I have no problem towards
the wideness of internet information,as what others are reacting upon when they search for something,because I am not depending those information.If I am not satisfied to the information I have jot down from the book,I could add some facts from the internet.
@HappyObeyChen (28)
• China
20 Jan 13
Yes there's too much information on the internet...I think sometimes we need to log off and really absorb knowledge and fun from books.
1 person likes this
@berting600 (3453)
• Philippines
21 Jan 13
Searching in the internet,is really fun and very informative,yet due to its vastness and too many information,I am ready to go back to book reading.I do not find it hard to search in a book than searching the internet,because in a book the information I could copy is the only discussion I really needed.
@fantasticbabe (981)
• Philippines
20 Jan 13
when i read books i set a time where my mind feel relax and open to information. i do not mix up to read other books at the same time unless i finish first the other book. in this case i would really understand the book and follow all the sequences without disintegrate the way follow the course of events. this also make me think and analyze by the brain so it never felt tired. so the way to read a good book s when you feel relax and away from any distraction so you could focus.
@HappyObeyChen (28)
• China
21 Jan 13
This seems a nice way!I would like to try reading like you do.
@natliegleb (5175)
• India
20 Jan 13
internet is quite unpredictable and after the years of progress it falters and we need to get back to the action and also make sure we dont mess up
@HappyObeyChen (28)
• China
21 Jan 13
I think I really have to move my concentration to reading because it is much more beneficial than surfing on the internet.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
20 Jan 13
I can read and focus when I need to. The Internet makes me lazy where I don't want to read.
@HappyObeyChen (28)
• China
21 Jan 13
Yes on the internet we can not really do continuous reading because there are too many things that distract us.For me electrical devices like phones and pads have the same impact so I guess I need to abandon them all while reading.
@ctryhnny (3460)
• United States
20 Jan 13
I do a lot of reading and have to have a book to read all the time. I don't feel I'm addicted to fb or any other site and I think that's because my attention span is very short. I usually log on and off within half an hour. I'm always looking for a good book to read and your English is not bad because sometimes I have to skip discussions that I don't understand and yours is very understandable.
@HappyObeyChen (28)
• China
20 Jan 13
Thanks!I think it's just because I have abandoned reading for a long time and it might take sometime to adapt.I should turn off my laptop if I am not necessarily in need of it.You are my idle!:)
@HappyObeyChen (28)
• China
20 Jan 13
Yes it's terrible! :(
I got stuck all the time and can not concentrate on the lines!
@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
20 Jan 13
Actually I've always had this problem. I mean with the remembering what I've read after a few sentences. For me this has been long before the internet became open to the public.
The same issue often arises when people are talking to me or start rambling off a long list of errands for me because they assume I'm like everyone else who can just remember all that crap and then run off to complete it.
I'm still able to read and finish a book without any problem. I just have to read some things over to myself sometimes. It seems that subjects of interest to me will stick more effortlessly in my memory.
@HappyObeyChen (28)
• China
21 Jan 13
Yes,I know someone had held this theory that one can remember far better on things in which he or she's interested than other boring things.
@eagletrek2 (5499)
• Kingston, New York
20 Jan 13
Hi this is how I get my reading done.
I have the book I'm reading in
The rest room. 2 reason 1 I'm
Stuck there for a few minutes
So I make use of the time.
Second reason that were I
Have the best light to read.
Here what you should try
See were the best light is in
Your home
That can help you
I find if the weather nice and
The sun out side.is good that
Were i
My best light if I do not have good light my
Eyes get tired from reading
OK good day.
@HappyObeyChen (28)
• China
21 Jan 13
Yeah,probably a good way,I think one day if I'd had my own apartment I would build a rest room just for reading books and exercises.
@xocolatedrool (414)
• India
20 Jan 13
On the contrary the internet has enabled us to read a lot more. There is an overload of information and actually it prompts you to think which one to pick. IF you are concerned about non e-book reading or the conventional books, well, if you have a habbit of reading you will read anywhere whether on line or offline.
@HappyObeyChen (28)
• China
21 Jan 13
It's true we read far more words everyday now than before.And I think it's because of this fact we became different.Our brain had never managed so much information in the same period of time and it comes out a way of picking,we can pick the key information in an article or news or a tweet,and we just get used to it.But this method of "scanning" can't be appropriate when we are doing reading on books because if you skip one paragraph you can not understand the following one.What do you think?
