Indeed, Nicholas Carr, you are correct in saying that “deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.” Now that I sit and think about it, I don’t even know if I have ever participated in deep reading. I was tempted to mention, I deep read when I sit on the beach and tan in the sun, however, I don’t even deep read there. I am focused on so many different things, are there creases in my elbows where the sun will leave nasty tan lines, why is that child splashing water so close to me, young boy who is twenty miles out in the ocean…where are your parents, have I eaten all day. As much as I would like to deep read, I get four sentences in and have to move my chair up because high tide is moving in and then two pages later I have to move my chair back down because of low tide.
The same happens with my mobile device. Is deep reading even possible on such a device? I open an article and before I’m done with it I am opening a different application, scrolling through Instagram photos, checking emails, sending a text reply. BUT I did learn a hell of a lot of cool things.
Fifteen issues women deal with daily that men might not know about, I only learn two of them before clicking away, because Kelly Wingen liked my photo on Instagram, so I might as well go check out Kelly Wingen’s photos, and who’s birthday is it? But oh, they’re private. I got a new email, subject: Weekly Practice Schedule, “no Mom, I don’t need lunch tomorrow,” new text: “Cost Center at 8:00am?! Do I even get to sleep?” and then I realize I haven’t even read issue number three of the fifteen yet so I start the process all over again until I realize my dog needs fed so issues ten through fifteen can wait until I’m done folding the laundry, showering, eating dinner and checking Clash of Clans.
Is this what deep reading has come too?
Until the day comes where I live in seclusion, I may not ever deep read. Actually, that day may never come since my brain is constantly thinking at a million miles a minute. Last week, I was taking a math quiz and found myself thinking about my dog. Bella is not going to help me graph this exponential equation. Then, when I regained my focus, I found myself realizing how disgustingly dirty my nails were (still are!). Ugh.
I mean, I do digest information, actually possibly even at a much more accelerated rate than my dog. I thought she had a short attention span, but thanks to Nicholas Carr and Annette Vee, I have reached the conclusion that mine is shorter. I can’t even deep think when it comes to typing in my log in passwords on my Mac considering this thing remembers every word I have ever typed. If my passwords weren’t the same for every single log in I have, I would be screwed. Okay, there are two different combinations, of the same password (I have to switch it up a bit), but still, thank you Apple for yet another convenience. Can’t a girl do anything on her own anymore? Sheesh.
Rereading this blog post, I am fully convinced I don’t even have a “deep reading” bone in my body. Actually reading anything has convinced myself of this. That’s probably why I have so many questions about…everything. I know in class you are all thinking, “Weren’t you supposed to read that for homework?” Well, yes I did (thank you), however, what does the author even mean? I can’t stay on the same idea for more than three sentences, how am I supposed to read thirty pages without becoming confused and disoriented. Where am I? So, how do you deep read?
While reading your post and another, I began to think that it is a problem with devices; they ask us to do three thousand things at once, or really to switch rapidly between things, because the devices can do that, and, from using those certain devices, we learn to approach everything in that same way, even devices that, we say, don’t: reading a book, tanning. Then I began to think that we create the problem ourselves: if we don’t want to be distracted, we don’t have to be. I have barely any banner notifications turned on on my devices now; I got sick of it; one day I realized that I don’t have to read every single tweet, and I regularly go for days without even opening twitter. But then I thought: no, that’s not it either. It isn’t.