When was the last time
you thoroughly read something? A class reading, a 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 school 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: specific requirements dictate the length and amount of time it’ll take
to read because we won’t stand for anything longer than four minutes of dedicated
attention.
Tech philosopher Shannon
Vallor says 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 learning to be patient, and makes it harder for us to
build up a vital skill for connecting to others.
According to neuroscientist
Maryanne Wolf, ever-present technology is short circuiting our brains. By
giving us endless 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 leads to dangers like being unable to understand another
person’s point of view and empathize.
If you’ve made it this
far, congratulations.
If you’ve skipped down to
this point, welcome to the club.
TL;DR: 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!
This is way too true. You made this article so interesting to read and yet I still found myself skipping words until you called me out on it.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I think could have improved your article was putting your second paragraph about how your own reading habits have changed to be after the Maryanne Wolf paragraph. In doing so, you've provided an example to what you mean by "tech is taking away our analytical touch" as well as providing more of a conclusion and pulling it back together. For those who did not do the readings, it gives more context as to what you’re describing.
I really enjoyed reading this. You did an awesome job with this blog post!
Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteI thought your first draft from before was already pretty great, but I think the tweaks you made to this version made it even stronger! It's great that you gave more of a introduction to Shannon Vallor and I loved the little TLDR at the end. You have a casual, engaging tone throughout this piece that's fun to read and definitely makes the content stand out, and I think it was great that you went beyond "reading fast bad" to actually give some examples of potential consequences (analytical touch, being unable to empathize with other people, etc). I also super love the topic — as someone who used to read nonstop, I've definitely noticed that I struggle to stay glued from cover to cover the way I did when I was in elementary school.
I think this piece is very strong and I'm not entirely sure what else you could change with the limited word count you have. I'd say to consider replacing some general examples with more conceptualizable examples (ie. what is an example of an inability to empathize negatively affecting an interaction?). Up to you where you want to do that.
Hi Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteDefinitely one of the more engaging articles that I've read. Informative, while maintaining a clear voice throughout. Loved the TLDR, and the congratulations near the end!
I feel that not being able to change your title is definitely a crutch, because from what I got from your post, the message sounds like "Why the way you read could affect your relationships."
I think the only issue I found was the way you tied in Vallor's quote about patience. Your second quote was essential in tying reading, to Vallor's notion of patience, and eventually to the way we interact with people. The two parts that you make this connection are where you say: "only stifles learning," and "taking things at face value." These were key in communicating your argument, but having them disjointed makes it feel less impactful. I'd suggest putting the two quotes together, and then combining those two summary sentences at the end.
Good luck!
To Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your article and thought that what you said was inherently true that most of use stopped reading books after technology developed and was implemented into our everyday lives. I think compared to your original post, this post was much better at integrating the quotes from Shannon Vallor and introducing her as a philosopher first. The topic you chose also made me think it over a lot how skipping words is just casual when I'm reading or skimming. I think one item to improve on is having visualizations that can express the point you're going for instead of just talking about them.