Do You Know What You’re Doing When You Read?

“You need to know what you’re doing if you’re doing it.”

This wisdom came from the mouth of a babe, my then 6-year old grandson. I wish you could hear the way he said it.

Like so much of the fast-paced life today, people try to squeeze in (or squeeze out) as much as possible in a 24-hour day, and half the time, do we even know what we’re doing while doing it?

Ironically, switching tasks costs time rather than saves it. Like checking email while talking on the phone, one or the other will claim our focus, and when the other intrudes, the brain switches tracks.

Imagine a drone-view of a railroad yard. It’s where train engines move rail cars from one track to another.

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Seems obvious, doesn’t it? But truth is, as people attempt to do more than one thing at a time (euphemistically called “multi-tasking”), research shows that the brain can only do one thing well at any given time.

Ah, there’s the rub. “Well.” Quality versus quantity.

“Time-stacking and ADHD”

I saved the link to this article about audio books and the tradeoff between listening to a book read aloud by someone and your own hands-on reading an actual book. Thank you, Joel J. Miller for sharing your thoughts.

Miller’s article highlights the tradeoffs of listening versus reading an actual print book. I often wonder how anyone keeps up with current best sellers, but listening to a book while doing something else certainly helps with “time-stacking.” But does paying partial attention contribute to Attention Deficit?

I can’t think about that now. I’ll think about that tomorrow.

While listening to a book read on Audible or a podcast, the conversation continues without time to process or question arguments. According to research, we rely more on intuition and reach hasty judgments while listening only.

Reading an actual book helps to allow time to question and analyze more carefully what we read.

Reference That Aids Analysis

The most important book I continue to read is the Bible. The Bible gives me perspective for everything else I read.

“The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” Psalm 119:130

“Simple” means teachable ones. In fact, all of Psalm 119 recounts David’s desire to know, to learn, to remember and treasure God’s Word. He expresses appreciation for the light and life given in God’s word.

More than seventy times in the Old Testament, the word Selah appears. Perhaps a musical or literary notation, the word actually means “stop and think about it.” Stop and think about the preceding verses before moving past to the next thoughts or ideas. Absorb more of what you read.

Why bother with books anyway? We have Google.

Joel Miller began writing book summaries which he then developed into his blog. He looked for key insights, and he kept relevant notes to engage with the written words rather than maintain vague impressions of what he had read.

“We process differently through the eyes and ears.”

Joel J. Miller

He’s right. I remind myself, reading is not a test. Various formats open possibilities, whether reading for pleasure, to learn how to do something, or to gain information.

Reading opens a world beyond its pages. But not every book warrants the kind of attention that merits retention.

Readers, however, will retain more from reading an actual pages-bound book than hearing a book read for us.

Miller writes that “the new orality” of books calls for greater skepticism of what we hear. He suggests, if you like listening, listen to fiction. The research he cited concludes listening is “most suitable for literature.”

Dual-process models show that we make hasty judgments based on what we hear. When reading non-fiction, a page-bound book allows time for analyzing more critically the writer’s arguments.

I expect a number of research studies will continue on the topic of audible, digital, and physical/paper books. To each his own. Certainly, each form has its advantages in different situations.

Physical Book vs. e-book or audio: Does it Matter?

A gazillion books get published each year. The promotion of ideas gets disseminated at the speed of computer processing. You and I, as readers are consumers of ideas––targets for book merchants––written words on paper pages or digitally displayed or recorded to be heard.

It makes a difference to me what I read in whichever format. I like to know how many pages before a book ends and before a chapter ends too. I write on pages in my books, and even though electronic books have highlighting tools, I’d be hard-pressed to remember what I read where or when, or how to initiate a search. In my library, I can reach for a book and locate pages that refresh my memory.

But the question that haunts me, will you and I as readers be successful at making readers of our children and grandchildren if they watch you and me stare at a screen or they see us listening on a device to whatever?

I guarantee, kids of all ages are watching us.

Reading serves as the building block for all learning. Reading develops language skills. Reading improves memory. Reading is part of the brain’s development.

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An article in Time referred to the book Raising Kids Who Read, published in 2015. Its goal is to teach kids to love reading in a digital age.

While storing information digitally shrinks the space needed to shelve books, does it also shrink our capacity to appreciate the wonder in this world to be discovered in the pages of an open book?

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Please share in the comments your preferences about reading page-bound books vs. digital and audio books.

When you take time to read, I hope you know what you’re doing while you’re doing it.

Pictured: Biltmore House library, Asheville, NC and Trinity Library in Dublin, Ireland