DEL STONE JR.: Has reading become a lost art? – The Northwest Florida Daily News

DEL STONE JR. @DelSnwfdn

Has reading become a lost art?

Recently I posted that question on my Facebook and it sparked a lively conversation. Most everybody, people my age and older, agreed with me, of course. Its my page. They better agree. Others, however, told me people were getting smarter, that there were other forms of media interaction that offered the same cognitive experience as reading, and that I was one of those generational doomsayers.

(You know, that wacky uncle who, after his fourth or fifth Black Label, began thundering from on high about the end times and how the younger generation was carrying the world to hell in a handbasket and how much better things were when his generation was in charge neglecting to mention the parents of his generation were making the same gloomy pronouncements back in their day).

I followed up my question with the opinion that yes, reading has become a lost art. During the ensuing back-and-forth the idea of reading became bound up with the idea of intelligence, as if one begats the other.

In general Id say thats true. Readers are likely more book-smart than non, though theres much to be said for common sense, a rare commodity in this day of the social-media addiction. Whos smarter? The guy who quotes Arthur Schopenhauer in his poetry or the guy who fixes your kitchen sink? Most days my vote goes to the sink.

As a guy who works for a newspaper and tries to sell books, Im vested in the future of reading. I want the world to be smart, but its OK if it isnt, as long everybody reads. I dont care if youre reading Ayn Rand, 50 Shades of Gray or Richie Rich, as long as youre reading youre not out robbing and raping. Well, you better not, anyway.

My dad was Air Force and we moved around a lot. The longest we were anywhere was Spain, where we spent three unendurable years without TV. Except they werent unendurable. We camped. We went on picnics. We grilled out on the patio. And we read books, magazines and yes, comic books. The whole idea of Dick, Jane and Sally filled me with a vague sense of unease, as if there were something wrong with those three. But Superman and Wonder Woman were OK.

When we returned stateside we binged on TV as if it were cheap fast food fries and burgers, but eventually the reading habit returned. This time it was science fiction for me.

Now I work with words for a living. Does that make me smarter than you? Well, I definitely cant fix your sink, so you decide.

I Googled Are people getting smarter? and got mixed results. The answer seems to be: It depends. People think differently than they used to. Back in the early 1900s, people were more literal and practical. These days theyre more abstract and concepty.

I checked test scores, and guess what? They rose and fell, just like the earths temperatures in all those debates about global warming the warring factions throw at each other. Ultimately the test scores are meaningless because the tests themselves have been changed over the years. Its like that authentic George Washington shovel the blade has been replaced five times and the handle six.

Researchers tell us people who read a lot are better at solving complicated problems. Clearly they have not watched me trying to replace a windshield wiper. One conclusion thats indisputable readers are far and away better at focusing than a non-reader.

I can hardly believe a group of people who cannot focus long enough to recognize tweets being sent by NPR are snippets of the Declaration of Independence and not a call to dump Trump, are smarter than Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers or Nikola Tesla. Nor can I think of Snapcrap and Idiotgram as intellectually stimulating as The Iliad or The Grapes of Wrath.

Has reading become a lost art? Yes. Absolutely.

Is that a bad thing? For civilization, yes. Its bad.

Contact online editor Del Stone Jr. at (850) 315-4433 or dstone@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on twitter at @delsnwfdn, and friend him on Facebook at dels nwfdn.

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DEL STONE JR.: Has reading become a lost art? - The Northwest Florida Daily News