Comments on: What Is The Internet’s Effect on Deep Reading?

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:29:30 +0000

I’ll never know if the internet has impacted the way I read. I, along with thousands of others from my generation, grew up learning to read and learning to use the internet at the same time. I’ve (mostly) always associated reading a book to be boring. I remember hating books I read in high school where the author would elaborate on a scene or description for pages on end in what could have easily been described in a paragraph. I’ve never considered this to be due to my internet use, but now that I reflect on it I believe it to be true. The internet is design to deliver bits and pieces of relevant data. We tend to skim because the “filler” is not important and we simply don’t have the time to waste reading it. When you read a book like you read a blog, as Carr states, you lose the “deep” reading and thinking. You lose the author’s tone, and any sentiments that might resonate with you. These things may not have great significance when reading an online article because we read those articles for news and updates, not critical reflection. When we do this day in and day out, I agree that we carry the same behaviors to reading a book. I wonder if the introduction of e-readers like the Kindle or iPad to mainstream society will change even further deep reading. Will our eyes be so accustomed to screens that it will be hard to focus and basic paper and ink? Will we consider physical books to be antique based on their inability to find words and phrases with CTRL+F?

By: StephieDav

StephieDav — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:01:28 +0000

I can REALLY relate to the sentiments expressed in this entry. I have so much difficulty when reading things on the web. I try to print things out when I can spare the paper, but for the most part I can’t afford the luxury of doing so. I often find myself clicking open facebook, or youtube distracting myself from the readings that i’m supposed to be doing online. I find it hard to focus on the screen both because it hurts my eyes, and I get frustrated with the extra bulk of the laptop. Another thing i’ve noticed, is that the same distractions I experience online tend to transfer to my normal physical readings. I try to skim the vast amounts of readings that are assigned, and find that I often don’t retain very much of anything that I read. While the internet provides a lot of useful information very quickly, it does also provide a lot of opportunity for mistakes to occur, because different people can often influence the content that is available to everyone, and books don’t exactly have the same effect. Books are generally founded in truth, at least the ones that provide information that is used for academic purposes.

By: kaiyen

kaiyen — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:14:52 +0000

In response to another comment, I think it’s fair to say that most of us read differently today than people did 1000 years ago. I do not mean that in a mocking manner – the fact is that our reading styles and, more generally, I think, information assimilation methods change over time, as different technologies and media present themselves.

However, I think it’s ridiculous to say that the Internet has somehow limited our ability to do deep reading or thinking. Before the age of mass digital media and certainly for decades before that, readers had to decide what was important and what was not. They read to a depth according to the relative importance. At the risk of offending those that have commented that they do feel their reading methods have changed because of the internet, my opinion is that if one feels that he or she is less capable of deep reading and deep thinking, then it’s because they are not trying hard enough to be disciplined readers.

I certainly skim internet articles when I do not feel they are of essential importance to my life or breadth of knowledge (which would be two distinct reasons, I think). There is a reason why RSS readers are so popular – they aggregate headlines and provide not more than 1000 characters of the post to grab our attention. But when something does come up that is particularly interesting, I do read in depth, and I certainly reflect upon what is said, whether I agree with it or not, and sometimes even blog about it myself.

It is not as if everyone paid 100% attention to every single thing in front of them – letters, books, music, speeches, etc – before the digital age. Choices had to be made, priorities assigned, and deep thinking done on an appropriate basis.

By: sumiresandy

sumiresandy — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:17:28 +0000

I have never thought about how the internet has affected my ability to read. Now that I think about it, I used to read all the books assigned in middle school but in high school, to be honest, I had never finished a book assigned in class. The massive amount of internet reading I do every day surely have changed the way I read. I really agreed with the line “in a swiftly moving stream of particles. ” Sometimes I have to read a sentence twice because the first time I read it, I was just saying out the words and not actually putting the words into my mind. I agree with Birkerts and Carr that we will experience a loss of depth and wisdom as a society. However, this is a result of what we have built up; we just have to accept it. To say the truth, I don’t really care. I think my indifference is a result of my drease in deep reading also. People back then did not have much entertainment, so they engaged in philosophy and deep reading, but our world now is a busy place; we don’t have time to ponder on subjects or read a book more than once. I agree that the humanity will become more apathetic because of this new habit of reading, but that is just the way it works in a modern society.

By: will patterson

will patterson — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:11:54 +0000

Deep reading, as defined in the above article, is synonymous with deep thinking. The author strives to make the point that as the Internet evolves to contain an ever increasing amount of information, concurrently, our means of interpreting evolves into mere “skimming…without allowing the words to resonate inwardly.” In my personal opinion, I agree with the author’s argument: Wisdom can only result from the resonance of information; resonance can only result from deep reading. Being a child of the digital age, I believe I read differently than people did a thousand years ago. This obviously is a resultant of several factors but mainly because I have extremely easy access to copious amounts of information. And it is this crucial change that causes our society to turn their back on novels and philosophical thinking to tabloids and summaries.

By: Meghan Horowitz

Meghan Horowitz — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:02:29 +0000

While reading this article I was on facebook, texting, an my roommate was watching tv. Needless to say, I was a bit distracted. With the internet being used more and more in schools kinds have become accustomed to just simply grasping the main points of online readings. I have found it slightly more difficult to fully immerse myself when reading a book because I have become used to doing 5 things at once while reading online.

By: spencer.waddell@gmail.com

spencer.waddell@gmail.com — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:29:16 +0000

Truthfully, I do not believe that there are any vertical readers anymore, because there are just too many things to read. If you make yourself a vertical reader, you shelter yourself to only a limited amount of knowledge. Having a social life and discussing issues with friends might be difficult. Being a vertical reader to me is easier to understand if I use a metaphor. Vertical reading is like taking the same class every year for five years, it does not make any sense. You will obviously be an expert in whatever subject you are studying, but the human brain can absorb so much more than one type of learning. Why should a person limit themselves to one or two books in a lifetime. The internet also provides many pieces of information that are not always relevant to what we want to know. Also, in the words of Brooks from the movie Shawshank Redemption “The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry.” This is true, and now everyone is always trying to get somewhere and get something new, instead of taking a stroll through the park. This is evident in the movies of old compared to the movies of today.

By: Ryan Cashen

Ryan Cashen — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:21:10 +0000

“The Owl has Flown” by Birkerts
The internet today is our fastest way of acquiring information, however, we often don’t scratch the surface of the densest reading material. When I first read this article I skimmed it over and was the opposite of Birkert’s ideal reader. The internet has changed the way we read with its’ ability to access us to any information instantly. After reading,Birkert’s “The Owl has Flown,” I realized how much information I miss when I skim a text. This article makes the point to dissect each sentence to find context and meaning, rather than finding the main ideas.
It is harder to engage in deep reading in an online environment because of all the distractions one can find on the computer. The many distractions include sites like face book and aim. Birkert wants us to sit down and soak in the words and live them instead of brushing them aside. I feel if I sit down and read a book I am way more productive than reading the article online. However, in this time and age the internet will be the most superior resource that we will use in time to come. Who knows how long books will be around.

By: Charles Hall

Charles Hall — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:09:10 +0000

The other day while having a casual conversation with a friend we began to talk about Woodstock. Going into the conversation I felt somewhat knowledgeable on the subject because I had recently read the entire eleven-page wikipedia entry. My friend however had recently read a book on Woodstock and offered to lend it to me. I graciously accepted. The first thing I noticed about the book was how it was water damaged and smelled horribly until it was aired out for a few days. The other observation I made was how thick the book was. If had been content with just reading the online story then I would have been deprived of information only available through more dense mediums and that I would never have been able to read the book if it was online. My eyes get tired easily when reading on screens. The point I’m trying to get to is that the information available on the internet was not enough for me and only trough old fashion methods of communication like talking with friends was I able to find another old fashion way to satisfy my need.

By: Ryan Cashen

Ryan Cashen — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:14:32 +0000

The internet today is our fastest way of acquiring information, however, we often don’t scratch the surface of the densest reading material. The internet has changed the way w e read with its’ ability to access us to any information instantly. After reading,Birkert’s “The Owl has Flown,” I realized how much information I miss when I skim a text. This article makes the point to dissect each sentence to find context and meaning, rather than finding the main ideas.
It is harder to engage in deep reading in an online environment because of all the distractions one can find on the computer. I feel if I sit down and read a book I am way more productive than reading the article online. The internet is a valuable resource when we use it to its fullest.