Technology seems to discourage slow reading. Reading on screens tires eyes easily. So online writing is more skimmable than print. The neuroscientist Mary Walt argued this "new norm" of skim reading is producing "an invisible, dramatic transformation" in how readers process words. And brains now favor rapid absorption of information, rather than skills developed by deeper reading, like critical analysis.
We shouldn't overplay this danger. All readers skim. Skimming is the skill we acquire as we learn to read more skillfully. And fears about declining attention spans have proved to be false alarms. "Some critics worry about attention span and see very short stories as signs of cultural decline," The American author Selvin wrote. "But nobody ever said poems were evidence of short attention spans."
Yet the Internet has certainly changed the way we read. First, it means there's more to read, because more people than ever are writing. And digital writing means rapid release and response. Once published, online articles start forming a comment string underneath. Such mode of writing and reading can be interactive and fun, but is probably lacking in profound reflection.
Perhaps we should slow down. Reading is constantly promoted as a source of personal achievement. But this advocacy emphasizes "enthusiastic" or "eager" reading — neither suggest slow absorption. To a slow reader, a piece of writing can only be fully understood by immersing oneself in their slow comprehension of words. The slow reader is like a swimmer who stops counting the number of pool laps he's done and just enjoys how his body feels and moves in water.
The human need for this kind of deep reading is too determined for any new technology to destroy. We often assume technological change can't be stopped, so older media are kicked out by newer, more virtual forms. In practice, older technologies can coexist with new ones. The Kindle hasn't killed off printed books any more than cars killed off bicycles. We still want to enjoy slowly-formed ideas and carefully-chosen words. Even in a fast-moving age, there is time for slow reading.
