>less Americans reading>more not being able to read/follow a bookHow would you fix it, /lit/? How would you make reading for for kids/teens?
>>24846379I wouldn't. Every day I pray for Yellowstone to erupt and bury America along sinful Atlantis.
>>24846379It’s like asking what would turn back the clock on reading once movies and tv were competing for relaxation hours. Short of an apocalypse you don’t put the genie back in the bottle. Games and social media can’t be outcompeted (or they would never have stolen time from books to begin with). What we’re talking about isn’t zoomies reading like generations past but clawing back a handful of those percent through what, pandering? “New experiences” with interactive books and other drivel? I mean the markets do try. They issue emoji Romeo and Juliet books desperately trying to REACH DEM KEEDZ. Is it working? Holy unc thinking skibidi. 67!
>>24846408>>24846379It's talking about the last 20, years not the invention of the TV...I had to rediscover reading for pleasure in my 20s because the school system made me think I hate reading. Turns out it's enjoyable if you're reading to enjoy the story not to memorise details and beats for a test. What the school system thought me is that reading books is not about enjoyment but about memorising what you read, "retention", which is something I still see /lit/ talk about on occasion. I imagine a lot of people didn't start reading later like me but found other hobbies and never looked back.Another reason people hate books is because a lot of literature you're forced to read or is considered classic is actually hot garbage, complete irredeemable trash plot wise that's only recommended reading because of prose. This is also an attitude I see on /lit/ a lot, where people don't care what they're reading about they only or primarily read "to see what authors can do with language". This isn't wrong or anything, but it is not something you should expect others to share, I think most people are like me and read fiction for the story, not the prose. I think this because this is what happens with film and video games (people who watch film for shot composition are a minority) and that when a modern author does reach a popular audience, it's someone like Sanderson, who pretty much just describes what happens in standard American English.
>>24846472As an analogy, I recently bought a car and since I'm single and I only need it to travel to and from work, I bought a small electric smart car. It has been a while since I drove since I used to be able to just take the bus, but it's incredibly easy to handle and just great. I can park anywhere, the battery has warranty for a lot of years, I charge it at work, i really like it. I showed it to my friend who's a "car guy". He imported a car from Japan and spent a lot of money changing the steering wheel around, he keeps tuning the car like changing the spoiler or what have you, he goes to those car meetups where they stand around a parking lot and jerk each other off to their paintjobs ect, he hated my car. I asked him what the fuel economy is like on his car and he didn't answer, said it doesn't matter, went on about his super duper suspensions that can handle racetrack turns bla bla bla.When asked what his hangup is about my car he said "it's a car for people that don't like cars"If reading was like cars then most people who read wouldnt be like that guy
>>24846379Special camps to help them concentrate.
You can't. Videogames and the Internet provide a bigger dopamine rush. Even television and films are struggling to stay relevant.
>>24846379Mass literacy was a historical anomaly and overall a bad thing. It's good that plebs can read labels on bottles, but name me one advantage of trying to get them into books.
>>24846379It’s over, any book I pick up now has girl boss characters and reddit tier dialogue between a group of reddit tier characters. I’m checked out, add me to the 40%. It’s just the free market working as intended, I am not being sold a product I want so I stop buying. Simple.
>>24846379>"less Americans">"reading for for"You should start by fixing yourselfAnyway the solution is mastery learning, aristocratic tutoring, having and transmitting an enthusiasm for reading, reading everything your kid reads alongside them to develop their ability to discuss and analyze ideas, etc.Oh yeah, and any kid past age ~10 who hasn't formed self-directing, self-improving habits is probably a lost cause
>>24846505>but name me one advantage of trying to get them into books.Sometimes they try to express themselves in writing, and the product can be pretty funny, like the guy at >>24846472 and >>24846488.
>>24846379they should try writing books for people who aren't libtarded niggers, foids and faggots
>>24846472>people hate booksYou're overthinking this. It really is just down to simple addiction. Most people are staring at their devices, digesting tiny chunks of distraction, training themselves to be able to only handle tiny chunks of distraction. Most are not going to be reading anything longer than a pamphlet, nor do they desire to do so. People used to call phones, now phones do the calling, and people answer!(this sentence is very dumb but I refuse to excise it).The problem is technology and the state's unwillingness to rein in its detrimental social effects.
>>24846379Competing against video games, film and tv?Its honestly over. Like >>24846408Said as well
>>24846574How would state do so?
>>24846379literally just ban them from video games and smartphones
Restrict access to smartphones, internet, and video games Have a large library of good books and give them free reign over itMake sure they're learning to read the correct way in school, with phonics
>>24846699>with phonicsWhat other way is there? Is this an American thing?
>>24846728Whole language learning. It contributes at least a little bit to the problem
reading for fun drops when you walk into a book store and 90% of the displayed books are pozzed globohomo propaganda to make black women seem like the most intelligent beings on earth
>>24846379>How would you fix it, /lit/? How would you make reading for for kids/teens?Have the people read stories or books that are “fun”, or “interesting”. I’ve tried ordering various “pulp” or crime novels collections from imprints like Everyman’s Library from major retailers, and the collections on more than one occasion have gotten sold out, and the retailer has to order another batch to fulfill orders. Pulp crime novels used to be 200-300 pages, making them easily readable even for someone busy. The same goes for short story collections. At some point, I was once told because of book price increases, it was considered better to make standard pulp paperback books longer, so customers thought they were getting their money’s worth. This just led to longer novels with a larger amount of crappy extra pages.
>>24846581Ban smart devices for people under 21. A baby on an ipad is like a baby smoking a cigarette.
>>24846472>when a modern author does reach a popular audience, it's someone like Sanderson, who pretty much just describes what happens in standard American English.I would rather stick my dick in a belt sander than read SandersonI will keep my "boring" classics, thanks
>>24847339So focus on the remaining 10%.You chuds are insufferable little bitches.
too many words stop being so pretentious
>>24846508>girl boss charactersName one.
>>24846379What percent of Americans read for pleasure?
>>24846699smartphones, internet, and video games aren't distracting tools.
The bar to outperform is so low that in a psychopathic way I like it and definitely exploit it, but I do wish more people did try harder to be informed, and not "oh my god did you see *politician* do *thing*." Informed. I mean actually informed, historically, spiritually. Channeling the ancients and aspiring to something greater.
>literature is a pastime for the elite, who cares what the plebs think or read>why are the plebs reading slop? This has never happened in history. The west has fallen.Explain.
>>24846379Most people in America do not read and this has been the case for its entire contemporary history. The cultural myth of "everyone reads" was cultivated in response to reports of high literacy rates among the USSR during the Cold War. We literally began pushing flagrant lies as propaganda and this one wasn't even very believable. Before smartphones and video games took over people's attention spans, it was movies and television that did. And before that, it was the radio! And most people still did not read.The only demographics that consistently read in America are women and nerdy men. Women like romance while men like genre fiction.
>reading for pleasurewhat a stupid metric
>>24846379the job market is fucked right now. I'm hoping literacy rates dip real low, to the point where they start hiring people for shit just because they can read and write. Maybe in 10 years or so. GPT is definitely accelerating the process along with short form videos and endless scrolling.
>>24848217>Channeling the ancients and aspiring to something greaterThis is just beyond them, the only metric they value and the drive behind everything they do is how much money can be made from this or that.
>>24848212imagine
>>24848263>goodread niggas be like
>>24846508>SimplePick up a book fag
>>24848644Why are you so mad?
>>24846380
>>24846379No they're doing the right thing. Academia is a dead end. Idiocy will bring up birth rates. Don't ask how I know.
>>24846472> Another reason people hate books is because a lot of literature you're forced to read or is considered classic is actually hot garbage, complete irredeemable trash plot wise that's only recommended reading because of prose. This is also an attitude I see on /lit/ a lotIt’s strange that you can’t reflect on your own abilities enough to recognize that the problem isn’t classic literature. Imagine someone saying they hate art because their teacher made them look at paintings and the only art that matters is manga because it’s the only fun art that you enjoy. You’d think it was a small child that was soft in the head. Which is correct. Without the basic ability to appreciate something you can’t comprehend what there is to appreciate. Talent is meaningless to you. A scribble and old master are equivalent to you as it is for a pigeon who would shit on both. So too for your appreciation of books. You praise Sanderson and you think the problem is he writes “standard American English”. Which of course isn’t the problem. But how could you know? > Turns out it's enjoyable if you're reading to enjoy the story not to memorise details and beats for a test.You misunderstood the conclusion of your own observation.
Nobody reads but everyone's a writer.
>>24848906>Don't ask how I knowThe better living standards you get, the better the education you receive, the less you feel the need to breed. Now you know for real.
>>24846379what's so special about reading for fun? like that means people are less retarded?
>>24848906Birth rates are actually positively correlated with wealth which is correlated with IQ
>>24846379Based. It should be read for aesthetic experience.
>>24849265Everybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but don't nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weights.
>>24846408Yah, I think the only way to get people regularly reading would be for intellectual health, like how exercise is for physical health. But they would be doing it for enjoyment, but from a sense of duty.
>>24846472Its actually very common what you say. I know so many younger people who think the whole point of reading a book is to be able to summarize it, because that is what they were taught in school. Thats why, instead of reading a book, they think that memorizing a summary is just as good.
>>24846728They're teaching kids to literally guess what the word is based on context. It's bizarre and they cannot read.
>>24846574ITs funny how most people have reading habits similar to a person from the Middle Ages. They can read signs, labels, basic administrative paperwork, and that is about it. We are largely moving into a pre-literate society.
>>24848594I really wonder what the future has in store for something like this. A humanities degree was designed to train people on the skills of reading, writing, discussing, understanding etc. but now every student is using AI for that, a degree is becoming useless. Will companies have to develop their own testing methods, like how there used to be a civil service exam? Interesting times, anyway
>>24849548Really? Well, that explains a lot.
>>24846508>>24846546You niggas know old books still exist? Not that people are reading them either.
>>24849777this is almost as bad a suggestion as telling to watch porn if i want to see attractive women
>>24849563>a degree is becoming uselessThey've been almost useless for a while, by and large.
>>24849777gpt moderinze this old ahh shi tho
>>24849789True, but there will be a larger lose of legitimacy, especially by the universities.
>>24846379>Americans who read dailyare there any of these on /lit/?
>>24846472>I think most people are like me and read fiction for the story, not the prose. I think this because this is what happens with film and video games (people who watch film for shot composition are a minority)no, people who can form and articulate conscious opinions about shot composition are a minority, whereas people who are affected by shot composition as such are all of them. if the shot composition or editing or whatever else is poor in a movie they experience this as being bored or confused and then express those feelings with statements like "this movie is lame" or "the main character is such a faggot" or "i wish X would happen instead," because that's the level of conversation accessible to them. it's particularly silly to mention videogames here because of course the little kid playing a game is only going to say "this game is fun" or "this game is gay" and not launch into an impromptu video essay about level design but you surely still understand that the reason he's having fun is because someone did all this sophisticated design and programming work to enable it.to understand what happens when people forget this look no further that the modern media landscape where these industries have been invaded by people that fundamentally do not respect the craftsmanship of their predecessors and instead weasel their way in on the platform of social causes and as a result produce degraded works that not only alienate people who don't agree with the politics, which is understandable, but also fail to capture the ones that do. "representation is SO important, but for some reason i feel like turning this off and rewatching friends." they would rather rewatch friends because there is an ongoing catastrophic loss of real knowledge and skill. and the other guy's like, "i won't watch it because it has niggers" like it would be worthwhile if you removed them.apply this to writing and you get all you retards that hear other retards say "hurr i like that plot twist" and "hurr i like that character she's my waifu durr" and conclude that control over "prose" aka the only channel of communication available to a writer "doesn't really matter" because none of your 80iq internet friends talk about it, just like they play videogames but don't talk about microchip architecture. so you come up with your "story" and your "characters" and the rest will be just "describing what happens in standard english," right? because when you look at a massively successful writer from the past, it looks TO YOU like stephen king or jk rowling are not "doing prose" but just "describing what happens," right? there couldn't possibly be anything more to it. there couldn't possibly be a giant yawning gap in command over language between you and even just a children's book author from the 90s, so large that you can't even notice it anymore because you can't see what you can't see? right?
>>24849046Victor Hugo and Charles Dickens for istance, and Dostoevski to a certain extent, are incredibly tedious to read and full of moralfagging. They are classics, and you should read them, but that doesn't make them enjoyable compared to other authors that are also classics
>>24846508Character interactions can't be written anymore because nobody knows anyone else. Books full of abstraction wanking and autistic technical minutia (namely science fiction) are the future because that's what the English-speaking world currently can do.
>>24850197>Books full of abstraction wanking and autistic technical minutia (namely science fiction) are the future because that's what the English-speaking world currently can do.Oh, God, I can see it in the history books of tomorrow. "The literary period of the 21st century, better known as the 'Asperger's syndrome period...'"
>>24850236I don't read that much new fiction but one of the better/more popular sci fi I did recently was We are Legion (We are Bob) and its sequels. It's peak reddit cringe and pop culture references from start to end. Interestingly, it has those same strengths and weaknesses I mentioned, but the social interacting thing is obviated by having almost all the important characters be literal digital copies of the same guy until he proliferates through the galaxy and his private clone VRchat subreddit is the most powerful faction of human civilization, then it starts warring amongst itself as the clones become artistically interested in different things.
