Reading Time

Marshall McLuhan believed that every technology “has the power to numb human awareness during the period of its first interiorization.” And it seems we have digested our devices; they can numb us, now, to the pleasure of patience. They can numb our enjoyment of that older literary experience.

I actually read this in the newspaper (that’s a whole other topic) and wanted to post it but forgot to. It came up in today’s Next Draft email newsletter so I figured now was the time.

I’ve never been a great reader. I struggled with high school-assigned books because I preferred to read non-fiction but even now - non-fiction still my preference - I find it hard to carve out time to read books. I have a stack of them sitting on my night table¹ but whenever I look at them all I can think of is how long it’s going to take to finish them and opt to do something that’s fleeting instead. Or just go to sleep.