Jan

18

State of Emergency

Filed Under Americanos, Medienspektakel, Spielkram 

Did you know [that] for the first time in modern history less than half of America’s adult population reads literature? (…) One of the most fundamental art forms is becoming neglected. What’s more, the National Education Association correlates the decline in reading to a decline in civic participation, including volunteering, political involvement, visiting museums and attending sports.

There’s more than a hint of accusation in the report directed towards TV, the internet and videogames for fostering short term attention spans and instant gratification at the expense of active mental engagement. People are increasingly falling away from books and landing in the hands of games. What type of home do we imagine we’re building for them?

(Randy Smith in EDGE 191)

Comments

3 Responses to “State of Emergency”

  1. Christoph + Ricarda on January 21st, 2009 1:26

    Weniger als die Hälfte? Ich hätte vermutet, daß es bei uns seit 20 Jahren ohnehin höchstens noch ein Viertel wäre…

  2. Sven on January 22nd, 2009 8:55

    … mich würde mal die geographische Verteilung der Leser bzw. Nichtleser interessieren. Ob mein Vorurteil stimmt, dass sich die meisten Leser an den Küsten befinden?

  3. Christoph on January 22nd, 2009 23:52

    Klar, so wie das meiste gute Essen ;)

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