We’re witnessing a similar change in our time. Many people today think that reading books is difficult and impressive, when 20-30 years ago everyone was reading books easily for fun.
A similar thing is happening with music: people are losing the ability to enjoy instrumental music. Instrumental songs almost never chart today, compared to the 60s and 70s. People do listen to soundtracks from movies and games, but that’s a borrowed emotional effect.
I haven’t checked, but willing to bet that people’s ability to navigate without an electronic map is also pretty much gone.
A thousand years ago , reading books was considered difficult. The venerable Bede was considered prodigious for his ability to read without moving his lips.
when 20-30 years ago everyone was reading books easily for fun.
I was actually surprised how many people currently in their 40s or older haven’t read a book since they finished school. It is not obvious, until you ask. People who read books talk about them, but people who don’t read books usually don’t mention that fact.
Yup, I know people among all age categories who basically never read books on their own. One of them was my grandpa (RIP), who once tried to read a long fiction book (I don’t remember which one), managed to read one page a day with significant effort, and quitted shortly after.
We’re witnessing a similar change in our time. Many people today think that reading books is difficult and impressive, when 20-30 years ago everyone was reading books easily for fun.
A similar thing is happening with music: people are losing the ability to enjoy instrumental music. Instrumental songs almost never chart today, compared to the 60s and 70s. People do listen to soundtracks from movies and games, but that’s a borrowed emotional effect.
I haven’t checked, but willing to bet that people’s ability to navigate without an electronic map is also pretty much gone.
A thousand years ago , reading books was considered difficult. The venerable Bede was considered prodigious for his ability to read without moving his lips.
I was actually surprised how many people currently in their 40s or older haven’t read a book since they finished school. It is not obvious, until you ask. People who read books talk about them, but people who don’t read books usually don’t mention that fact.
Yup, I know people among all age categories who basically never read books on their own. One of them was my grandpa (RIP), who once tried to read a long fiction book (I don’t remember which one), managed to read one page a day with significant effort, and quitted shortly after.