Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Books

Hmm.  I was trying to figure out if this applied to me:  "A Book You Remember, a Kindle You Forget".

My gut charged in going 'This is Boolshite!' but then I gave it some thought.  I stubbornly cling to a older style paperwhite Kindle with no back light.  It look and feels more like a book.  Plus no quick internet access from it to distract me.   So:

Nicholas Carr’s “shallowing” hypothesis, which she describes as the notion that “when reading on a digital device, people expend less mental effort than when reading print.”

May apply less to my reading style, and my recall and absorption is not impacted enough for me to notice, on reflection.  But the worry isn't for me, a broken down old warhorse, closer to the grave than to grammar school.  The worry is for today's grammar school kids.  

Well, since you pretty much threw them kids overboard in the Covid year when the Teacher's Unions got their way, I'd say you have a bit more to worry about than reading comprehension and retention by a digital generation.  It's a Lost Generation without the muddy trenches. 


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