Friday, January 24, 2020

The Internet Ruins the Way You Read


When was the last time you thoroughly read something? An assigned class reading, a sci-fi book, a lengthy article – really anything that took some time and thought. Maybe you’ve never been a reader, maybe you live and die for printed word. Maybe you’re already bored of reading this blog post.
My own habits have changed over time. From middle to high school, I went from reading 2-3 books a week to 2-3 books a year. Reading took too long, and unless it was immediately captivating, I couldn’t hang on long enough to get hooked. Take this post for example: there are specific requirements about the length and amount of time it should take to read because we, as readers, won’t stand for anything longer.
As Vallor told us, patience is a virtue, and difficult to master. It’s the cornerstone of effective communication and deep relationships, and dealing with the momentary discomfort of it helps us grow as people. With technology today being so easily accessible, we find less and less of a need for patience. Who needs to read the whole book to find out the plot – just google a summary! Unfortunately, this only stifles patience from growing, making it harder for us to build up a vital skill for connecting to others.
According to neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf, technology like this is essentially short circuiting our brains. By giving us so many options and making it so easy to find the shortest/simplest article, tech is taking away our analytical touch. We are taking things at face value which is, which leads to dangers like being unable to understand another person’s point of view and empathize, or being unable distinguish fake news from real news.
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations.
If you’ve skipped down to this point, welcome to the club.
Patience is hard, perseverance is harder – but they’re necessary for a deeper understanding of each other. I know we’re all busy, but I challenge you to set aside some time this week to read something that will take you over four minutes – heck, over ten minutes. Maybe even actually do one of your readings for a class next week. That’s right – fully read it. Take notes, write down questions, make a meme about something you learned (this is a great study tool, you’re welcome).
You might even enjoy it. Good luck!


3 comments:

  1. Hi Kelsey, really engaging post! I enjoyed your personable language and images to keep the reader engaged throughout. While your post was engaging and easy to read, I did notice a grammatical error at ("We are taking things at face value which is, which leads to...") which detracted slightly from the point you were making. While you incorporated the concepts from the Vallor reading really well, I think it would be interesting to bring in another reading around our inability to decipher between real news and fake news to see if there is a connection to our lack of patience when it comes to reading.

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  2. I really enjoyed this post! I thought your opening example was very relatable and a good hook for all readers. Additionally, your insight was thoughtful and well-written. You addressed the audience creatively which made the post engaging. My only suggestion would be to broaden your audience. It seems as thought it was meant for only SI 410 students. For example, all readers may not know which Vallor you meant. I suggest introducing Vallor like you did with Maryanne Wolf, so the reader is more informed.

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  3. Hi Kelsey! I really enjoyed your blog post, I thought it was easy to read and really engaging. I loved how self aware your blog post, with the "if you've made it this far, congratulations" part.

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