mercredi 11 janvier 2012

What I Don't Want

...is to stop reading because of my iPhone.

I just read an article about a man (Jonathan Gourlay) who says he stopped reading for a while, spending all his time watching TV shows and youtube videos and playing games on his iPhone. (http://bygonebureau.com/2012/01/09/in-the-land-of-the-non-reader/)

I have found myself cradling my phone in bed before going to sleep for the past couple of days. But most of the time, I'm actually reading on my iPhone - not books, I admit, but long-form articles.

So here's a reminder to myself to not stop reading. Because here's what Gourlay has to say about life "in the swamp of the non-reader":

1. The world is flat. [...] I see no depth. I make no associations. Life unfolds as a rather dull soap opera with bathroom breaks.
2. I can no longer reason and cannot be trusted to make a decision. My brain is distracted by second-hand sensations. When the slightest complexity arises in my life, I crave the screen world. [...]
3. I can no longer relax. [...]
4. I am empty, but not in a monkish way. I am just kind of dumb. Also, without the pleasing empathy that comes from engaging with new ideas, places, and characters, I am afraid of foreigners and easily manipulated by politicians and advertisements.
5. I have the attention span of cocaine-addled four-year old. [...]

In conclusion: I started reading books again.

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