Skim reading is the new normal. The effect on society is profound

What I read

Neuroscientist reports that people ‘reading circuit’ seem to be changed by today's digital-based modes of reading. ‘Reading circuit’ in human has developed in our species brain for more than 6,000 years ago, evolved from decoding basic information to nowadays decoding complex literacy. Researchers in psychology bears people have less patient to long texts. The use of digital screen that are fast, multi-task oriented may be causing the new norm in reading that is ‘skimming’. With skim reading, we can’t touch the complexity, feelings, aesthetic and create our own imagination. Skimming also decreases people comprehension skills. The ‘bi-literate’ reading brain need to be cultivated in order to sustain knowledge and wisdom that is a necessity of good society.

___________________________________ 

My response 

It's true that I have less patient to reading text on screen than on print. There are many reasons I could think of that effect my concentration while reading on screen. One thing is about screen light, for me it's difficult to stare at long text on screen for a long period of time. Though, looking at pictures like on Instagram or reading short texts are not my matter. Maybe because the content itself is made for fast consumption. When I found an article that is really interested me I sometimes print them out. I personally like to note down on paper when I want a deep learning about something. However, there are such a lot of information online I can access, the difficulty turns to which article I would print out to read. So, now I have such a lot of articles I marked as 'read later' on Facebook (meaning I rarely read them).

I still buy a lot of books (whether I rarely finish any of them) because I love 'thereness' of text and value book as a beautiful object.

___________________________________ 

My question

Do you prefer to read on print or on screen? and Why?

___________________________________ 

Reference

• Wolf, Maryanne. (August 25, 2018). Skim reading is the new normal. The effect on society is profound. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/25/skim-reading-new-normal-maryanne-wolf.