I live in a city full of very liberal very educated people.
a huge chunk of them think books are wastes of time and are angry they were forced to read so much during their PhDs/masters/JDs.
I’ve been on many first dates with a science PhD who tells me reading fiction is stupid and dumb and if I’m reading it should only be for career productivity or self help therapy crap. And oh, btw my degrees in humanities mean I’m a stupid idiot who wasted years of my life reading stupid crap books.
It’s insane.
but when you realize these people hate learning, and only like money, it makes a lot of sense. their degrees/educations were not thinks they wanted to do or enjoyed doing, they were brass rings they had to leap through to get money.
What I believe they mean is that the same people who’d use it as a demeaning slur and something to avoid are the same who would never touch a book after not being required to do so … And likewise vote for people who’s entire platform is fear mongering and hate towards the “other”.
Even Brewer, the author of the infographic, publicly admitted in 2012 that he couldn’t back up any of the statistics and asked people to stop sharing it. Brewer claims to have used statistics from a survey by an organization called the Jenkins Group, though the group itself says the statistics were incorrectly attributed to them. Brewer has never been able to provide any other source of the numbers he used in the infographic.
The questionable statistics seem to have originally come from a 2011 Mental Floss article, which claimed to have taken them from a Jenkins survey from 2003. Mental Floss has updated the original article saying they have no idea where the statistics came from, either.
I’d say it’s probably a lot more in line with the ones who didn’t vote at all. I know everyone likes to say “conservative dumb,” but we’re all aware there are plenty of educated conservatives, probably just as many dumb liberals. The true dumb are the ones who sit out an election. That’s “I don’t read” dumb.
In a typical modern democracy, turnout for general elections is usually around the 80% mark. I don’t think the difference can be explained just by Americans being “dumber.”
Committed to never reading, or just never made time for it?
I think it’s been over a year since I picked up a book. I actually love the book* I was reading and I’m only like a 3rd of the way into it. It’s just… hard to make time for it. Worst bit is, I’m not even working every moment I’m awake anymore (I should be, my ex put me deeeep in debt, like 3 or 4 national median annual pre-tax incomes worth of debt that I want to pay off within the next 3-4 years), it’s just that gaming, youtube, scrolling lemmy, are easier timewastes to accidentally sink into, whereas reading has to be a deliberate decision. So now I’m in a situation where I don’t read because it feels like a waste of time in my present situation, but due to stress, ADHD and everything else, I still waste time on a lot of things that are arguably much less rewarding than reading would be.
* “Guards! Guards!” by Terry Pratchett. I wanted to read the entire series, bought 3 books at first. Then met my ex, became a dad and got guilted into taking out tens of thousands in loans, installment plans, etc. Over 2 years later I still haven’t finished the first book I started :/
Yeah, but you’re not anti-book. It’s different if you just don’t have time / energy right now. There are literally millions of people who just…like, don’t believe in it.
To be fair, I read little nowadays, but audiobooks where I can listen to seties while doing laundry, or trash, or DIY projects… I blasted through Cosmere 2 years ago, plus the Dresden series, Noobtown, DCC, Demon Mart, He Who Fights with Monsters last year, and this year (and past two months) the Wandering Inn series (Book 12 now). I enjoy books far more than film and tv, mostly due to speed at which I can devour the content (1.75x usually).
Seems like you’re adding “committed” into that stat. The people who will never read a book post high school aren’t doing so out of commitment but for a variety of reasons.
It’s also silly to pretend book readers are inheriently better. I know a few magas that read books after high school. It’s all fantasy novels but they do technically read books.
The original source, a research org called the Jenkins Group, say it was misattributed to them. Nobody knows of a legitimate study that claims that value.
33% of high school graduates never read another book again in their lives after graduation.
Let that sink in.
228 million adults in the US, and 75 million of them are committed to never reading.
Sounds a lot like the voting block for a certain orange fascist…
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Books is*…
I live in a city full of very liberal very educated people.
a huge chunk of them think books are wastes of time and are angry they were forced to read so much during their PhDs/masters/JDs.
I’ve been on many first dates with a science PhD who tells me reading fiction is stupid and dumb and if I’m reading it should only be for career productivity or self help therapy crap. And oh, btw my degrees in humanities mean I’m a stupid idiot who wasted years of my life reading stupid crap books.
It’s insane.
but when you realize these people hate learning, and only like money, it makes a lot of sense. their degrees/educations were not thinks they wanted to do or enjoyed doing, they were brass rings they had to leap through to get money.
Not cool, dude. There are very few words I self-censor, but that’s absolutely one of them.
What I believe they mean is that the same people who’d use it as a demeaning slur and something to avoid are the same who would never touch a book after not being required to do so … And likewise vote for people who’s entire platform is fear mongering and hate towards the “other”.
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Use–mention distinction
Pretty easy to understand, but still somehow eludes most people.
don’t be retarded
Wow edgy
Hey just FYI, that statistic is bullshit
I’d say it’s probably a lot more in line with the ones who didn’t vote at all. I know everyone likes to say “conservative dumb,” but we’re all aware there are plenty of educated conservatives, probably just as many dumb liberals. The true dumb are the ones who sit out an election. That’s “I don’t read” dumb.
In a typical modern democracy, turnout for general elections is usually around the 80% mark. I don’t think the difference can be explained just by Americans being “dumber.”
Committed to never reading, or just never made time for it?
I think it’s been over a year since I picked up a book. I actually love the book* I was reading and I’m only like a 3rd of the way into it. It’s just… hard to make time for it. Worst bit is, I’m not even working every moment I’m awake anymore (I should be, my ex put me deeeep in debt, like 3 or 4 national median annual pre-tax incomes worth of debt that I want to pay off within the next 3-4 years), it’s just that gaming, youtube, scrolling lemmy, are easier timewastes to accidentally sink into, whereas reading has to be a deliberate decision. So now I’m in a situation where I don’t read because it feels like a waste of time in my present situation, but due to stress, ADHD and everything else, I still waste time on a lot of things that are arguably much less rewarding than reading would be.
* “Guards! Guards!” by Terry Pratchett. I wanted to read the entire series, bought 3 books at first. Then met my ex, became a dad and got guilted into taking out tens of thousands in loans, installment plans, etc. Over 2 years later I still haven’t finished the first book I started :/
Just force yourself to do it for one hour twice a week, and it should spark something. It does for me.
I haven’t read a book in like 8 years :/
Yeah, but you’re not anti-book. It’s different if you just don’t have time / energy right now. There are literally millions of people who just…like, don’t believe in it.
Yeah. I just don’t crave it I guess. i still read the news once a day.
Books are so much better than the news.
Yeah. Responsibilities suck T_T
Read “Project Hail Mary” … It was an easy, quick read, and really enjoyable.
“And then there were none” (formerly “Ten little indians”) by agatha christie is a another easy, enjoyable read.
There are book communities on the Fediverse that could help motivate you to read.
I used to read. I used to love reading. What happened to me? Now I just buy books for them to sit on my shelf collecting dust :(
I should read a book.
To be fair, I read little nowadays, but audiobooks where I can listen to seties while doing laundry, or trash, or DIY projects… I blasted through Cosmere 2 years ago, plus the Dresden series, Noobtown, DCC, Demon Mart, He Who Fights with Monsters last year, and this year (and past two months) the Wandering Inn series (Book 12 now). I enjoy books far more than film and tv, mostly due to speed at which I can devour the content (1.75x usually).
Seems like you’re adding “committed” into that stat. The people who will never read a book post high school aren’t doing so out of commitment but for a variety of reasons.
It’s also silly to pretend book readers are inheriently better. I know a few magas that read books after high school. It’s all fantasy novels but they do technically read books.
The statistic is also total B.S.
The original source, a research org called the Jenkins Group, say it was misattributed to them. Nobody knows of a legitimate study that claims that value.