DISQUS

Bob Caswell: I Blame the Internet for My Lack of Reading Books, What’s Your Excuse?

  • Ian Stewart · 2 years ago
    about books keeps me from reading books. Go figure.
  • tom4cam · 2 years ago
    I have to agree. I think my attention span is getting shorter and shorter. The web sites I visit every day tend to give me this kind of bite-sized information, which takes less effort and further reinforces my "self-inflicted ADD." So is that a bad thing? Will I get to the point where I am no longer capable of complex thoughts and end up living in a cave? I dunno. But I, too, must confess that with all the interactive ways to share information online, reading has definitely taken a back seat for me.
  • Paul Ellis · 2 years ago
    You know I don't have a fair control group to tell whether the Internet makes me read less books. Before the Internet, it was always books that made me read less books.
  • Bob Caswell · 2 years ago
    Wow, Ian, if it's any consolation, your irony makes me feel better about my situation!
  • Logan Bobo · 2 years ago
    American Pastoral. Amazing.
  • Andy · 2 years ago
    I actually think, Tom, that you aren't "dumming down" but becoming more selective about what you read and more specific to getting answer questions.

    I don't think that we are becoming more scattered thoughts, just more organized. I look at what I am interested on the net and the rest of the page is just fluff.
  • tom4cam · 2 years ago
    That's exactly why I use lots of so-called Web 2.0 tool and sites. It organizes things in a way I couldn't do before. But I think Logan's point is valid. I probably need to spend time reading more just to get deeper into things that interest me. Reading also seems to be a great way to incubate ideas.
  • Heidi Quist · 1 year ago
    I know no one is probably following this any more--a year later, but I'll put in my two bits--reading novels really is good for your brain. It's great we have the internet for the information, nonfiction stuff, that interests us and that we need to know--but the fiction world allows your brain to organize thougths in a different way that can be very valuable in developing logical thinking processes, as well as allowing your imagination to work, which is really very important for spiritual, emotional and intellectual reasons.
  • Bob Caswell · 1 year ago
    I think you're right, Heidi. Full length fiction, though, can often be
    one of the first things to get squeezed out (of my life) when time feels
    scarce. But I'm working on changing that...