A sidewalk cafe in Prague … people savoring words in a book. Will scenes like this become extinct? In our world of shrinking attention spans, I worry that the pleasure of reading is becoming a relic of the past.
Scientists say we now have shorter attention spans than goldfish, who can maintain focus for 9 seconds.
I personally know several people who do not read books, articles or anything longer than an abbreviated text or tweet. And consider this: Analytics show that most people who receive email notices for my new blog posts will open the message to look at the photo. (Which is good news.) But a good number of them will not click through to read the one-minute story that accompanies the image. There’s no time or attention span for that.
For those of you still reading to the end of this post, I thank you. I fear that you’re a disappearing breed.
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Very thoughtful pondering. Altho I did go thru a number of years where I read only on my kindle, I could never part with a few well read, worn out books, which I now see as among my most precious possessions. It‘s unsettling to me when someone can’t name their ten favorite books let alone a single life changing book.
I totally laughed as I debated on clicking your link. But I enjoy these so much and they bring me such joy that I could not resist. Especially my sad days, like today. So thanks for sharing and I'm glad I clicked!
Old school reading will eventually become retro cool just like vinyl records and turntables…..we just have to wait a few decades
I read at least one book a week on my iPad- but I miss turning pages.
Very true words, Paul! Reading is such an adventure, and we can learn so much from what we read! I think, as people’s lives, get busier and busier, sitting down to read a good book or an article gets pushed aside. Such a shame.