Amazon came out with a new device that will let people read on a device. I don't know if that changes the experience of reading.
I don't think watching tv and movies is comparable to reading. Reading involves well, reading words on a page. TV & Movies are in the line of visual entertainment such as plays and operas. Video games are more like movies & tv, but I think they are their own genre because they are more like playing make-believe. But reading - reading means you imagine the story in your head, the words impart the story. Anything that visually represents the story brings the images directly to your head, not having the element of turning words into images. So it's different. In my opinion. I think it fires different parts of the brain and I'm sure studies back that up.
I'm worried that if too many people stop reading entirely, it will change the human brain. We've been reading for centuries.
It's not like we're changing from papyrus to scrolls to bound books. Going from reading to watching television is not just a transformation of medium.
My opinion only - don't mean to jump all over you. After all, you're a total stranger to me.
I've read about the anxiety that took place when storytelling changed from vocal narrating in a group setting -- where the reader would sit there and listen -- to reading privately words on a page. People thought it would change everything, ruin society. When I heard that, I thought: seriously, the more things change, the more they stay the same. We're always worried that some new form of storytelling is going to mean something hugely negative. And things changed a lot, when people began reading privately, but I don't think society became worse for it.
I also think it depends on your definition of reading. I think of reading as the process of making meaning from a text. If I'm watching TV and movies, I may be receiving the images already, but my brain still has to process the information and make sense of it and figure out a meaning. I have to understand character, plot, dialogue. I have to find significance and apply to it myself. Same things we do with reading books that we love so much. The presence of images doesn't make it brainless.
Sure, there are different parts of the brain that do different things -- I imagine there are different parts of the brain that process reading violent science fiction novels versus the parts of the brain that process reading a book about food. I don't think one's going to fundamentally change the human brain.
I think of reading as the process of making meaning from a text.
I agree with you that far, but I think we have different definitions of "text." For me, text has to be written. Even books on CD, to me, do not exactly count as "reading," because when you hear someone speaking, most of the meaning you get is not from the words that they use, but from their tone and inflection. (Scientific studies back this up - I can come up with a citation if desired.) When you add the dimension of being able to see someone's face and/or body on screen, that also changes the form and meaning of the piece signficantly.
I would agree that television and movies are (or can be) art and that it's possible to engage with them and make meaning, but I don't agree that watching them is reading. I don't think that looking at paintings or other visual art is reading either.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 02:12 am (UTC)I don't think watching tv and movies is comparable to reading. Reading involves well, reading words on a page. TV & Movies are in the line of visual entertainment such as plays and operas. Video games are more like movies & tv, but I think they are their own genre because they are more like playing make-believe. But reading - reading means you imagine the story in your head, the words impart the story. Anything that visually represents the story brings the images directly to your head, not having the element of turning words into images. So it's different. In my opinion. I think it fires different parts of the brain and I'm sure studies back that up.
I'm worried that if too many people stop reading entirely, it will change the human brain. We've been reading for centuries.
It's not like we're changing from papyrus to scrolls to bound books. Going from reading to watching television is not just a transformation of medium.
My opinion only - don't mean to jump all over you. After all, you're a total stranger to me.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 02:47 am (UTC)I also think it depends on your definition of reading. I think of reading as the process of making meaning from a text. If I'm watching TV and movies, I may be receiving the images already, but my brain still has to process the information and make sense of it and figure out a meaning. I have to understand character, plot, dialogue. I have to find significance and apply to it myself. Same things we do with reading books that we love so much. The presence of images doesn't make it brainless.
Sure, there are different parts of the brain that do different things -- I imagine there are different parts of the brain that process reading violent science fiction novels versus the parts of the brain that process reading a book about food. I don't think one's going to fundamentally change the human brain.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-22 10:46 pm (UTC)I agree with you that far, but I think we have different definitions of "text." For me, text has to be written. Even books on CD, to me, do not exactly count as "reading," because when you hear someone speaking, most of the meaning you get is not from the words that they use, but from their tone and inflection. (Scientific studies back this up - I can come up with a citation if desired.) When you add the dimension of being able to see someone's face and/or body on screen, that also changes the form and meaning of the piece signficantly.
I would agree that television and movies are (or can be) art and that it's possible to engage with them and make meaning, but I don't agree that watching them is reading. I don't think that looking at paintings or other visual art is reading either.