People can’t read.
You might argue with me by pointing to all the people around you who are in fact literate.
I would concede to you that many people are in fact literate, but I would hold to my originally stated claim that many people can’t read.
Attribution is murky, but Mark Twain is credited with stating that:
“A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.”
You and I both might fully agree with this dictum, but you would still state that even Twain (or whomever originally made the statement) is making a clear distinction between those who can’t read and those who won’t read.
So let me clarify the point. Many people can’t read a book. They can’t. They have lost the ability. It’s not that they don’t possess the ability to read words. They know the alphabet. They can understand words and sentences. However, they no longer possess the ability to read a full book. They can’t make it through a damn book. They may try but they no longer have the intellectual discipline and stamina to make it through.
Let’s face it. If you can’t read a book, then you can’t read.
I’m not necessarily talking about the person who reads multiple books at once and has trouble finishing a book before starting another one. I am such a person. While this problem could also be one of reading discipline (of which I stand guilty), it’s hardly the case with these individuals that they can’t make it through a book. Arguably, this could be a problem of reading too much, at least in terms of trying to read too much at once. Also, I think there’s a case to be made for deliberately discontinuing a book once the reader has determined that the value of the book does not exceed the value of the time and effort put into reading it. Nothing wrong with making that determination and moving to another, more valuable book.
I’m referring here to those who seemingly have no ability to read a book at all. Perhaps they once had it when they were in high school or college, but they have somehow lost the ability. It’s as if reading a book is a task they are incapable of performing regardless of the ability they may have once had.
Anecdotally, I can point to the time I challenged a good buddy of mine (who shall remain nameless) to read a certain book by the end of last year (I think I extended the challenge to him in August). The book I had asked him to read was not an easy read, but he had already expressed interest in reading it and I had given him a copy. After repeatedly urging him to read it, I offered him $500 to read the entire book by the end of the year.
At no time did I feel that my money was in danger, but yes, I absolutely would have paid him if he had read it. However, I knew there was literally zero chance he would read the book. Why? Because he was incapable of it.
*If he reads this (since it isn’t in a book), he will probably laugh rather than get angry, and he’ll have to admit I’m right.
If you haven’t read a book in a long time, it will seem like an extremely daunting task.
Sentences are more than the sum of their words. A paragraph is more than the sum of its sentences. A page is more than the sum of its paragraphs, and a book is more than the sum of its pages. You get the point. This is certainly true with fiction that clearly and strongly invokes the reader’s imagination. The images created by the reader in his mind are not explicitly found on the page of the book (unless the book is illustrated, friend). The reader creates those via inspiration that comes from the deliberate assortment of letters into words and words into sentences, etc.
However, even non-fiction writing is creative in a certain sense and also invokes the imagination as well.
Reading a blog or even a short article is much different than reading a book. A book, particularly a non-fiction work, typically makes a long form argument. It requires intellectual patience to follow the author’s argument, understand its premises, weigh the stated claims, and then accept or reject the conclusion. This can’t exactly be replicated in short form content. The amount of data, evidence, and the format of the argumentation can’t be included in the same way in these other media of communication.
I’m not in any way discrediting blogs, articles, or even tweets. They all have their place. But books also have their place and even a million tweets aren’t collectively the same as a book.
Why do so many adults shun the practice of reading books? When looking at just how few adults read books, the numbers are troubling.
This is madness. It spells massive problems for us individually (for those who can’t read books) and collectively as a society. We wonder why our nation is crumbling before our very eyes. There are many reasons for this, but one of the most significant reasons is that people lack the critical reasoning faculties needed to support proper and appropriate decision making. One of the main reasons that most people suck at these significant meta-decisions (the decisions about decisions that determine the future of our nations, our lives, and the fate of the next generation) is because they have an extremely impaired ability to think critically, rationally, and logically.
Without exception, the people I personally know who are the most skilled in terms of their strategic thinking, analytical capabilities, and overall intellectual depth, are avid readers.
If that’s not you, there is hope. It will require work, though. Deficiencies don’t correct themselves with no effort.
Luckily, the inability to read can correct itself. In this case, the problem is the cure. Start simply and develop a plan to slowly make the way through a book that will most easily hold your attention regardless of genre or length of book. Start with something easy that you can “exercise” your reading muscles with. Then gradually read more advanced books.
After all, if you can’t read a book…then you probably need to go read a book.
Multiple books at once, guilty. But I am also coming to the realization that it's OK to stop reading a book if I realize it's a waste of time.
I blame the rise of social media and digital algorithms created to capture attention. The addiction of the screen outmatches that of words on paper.
Never have I ever..... attempted to read a book with more than 500 pages. I need to get reading War & Peace off my bucket list, and simply begin to read it by restacking my priorities.