Constant scrolling on social media is sabotaging your focus and diminishing your ability to enjoy a good book. Here’s how to reclaim your love for reading.
Hi guys, and welcome to my first contribution to the SimplVest Newsletter. My name is Victor, also known by my newsletter persona as Vaami. I already made you anticipate this issue, promising to bring the sauce I brought to the Deliciously newsletter. So now I have to rise to the challenge of making this as interesting and engaging as Vaami always does.
In today’s issue, we will discuss the art of reading, which seems to be receding faster than Naira Marley’s popularity.
Let’s be fair; reading has become harder and harder as we get older.
You can no longer read a book.
You have a number of explanations for this. You’re getting older now. You’re doing a 9-5. You are battling relationship problems— and beans now takes a longer time to get done. In short, you no longer have time.
But on some days, you strengthen your resolve and create time. Unfortunately, no sooner do you start reading the book, you get distracted by something random, like the trending news of another D-list gospel artist proposing to his fiancée. So now, you know time is not the problem. You just do not have the patience anymore. It’s funny because when you were younger, you used to crunch volumes of pages with relative ease.
Look, I’ll admit, reading self-improvement books on career and personal improvement could be boring as hell. But you know that thing they say about readers being leaders? No matter how corny and old-fashioned it might sound, it is unfortunately true. I mean, you’re probably not going to be a literal leader (our leaders don’t seem like people who have read any books in their lives). Still, reading does help to elevate your thinking capacity, which in turn affects your general outlook, informs your decision-making processes, and eventually gives you an edge over your contemporaries—especially the ones who enjoy BBN.
To the main gist…
The simple reason you can’t read a book anymore is social media. Content has, for the past 10 years or so, taken another form.
The thing is, you actually read a lot.
All the written content you consume on social media amounts to reading, and all you read here has an effect on your life, your ideologies, your belief system, and your philosophy, just as books. But here’s the problem: Social media content has rewired how your brain processes information.
On social media, everything is broken down into easily digestible bits. It’s designed to grab your attention within the shortest possible time. You have adapted to reading quick jokes, quick hot takes on social issues, and short-form information.
Hence, when you pick up a book, you do not get the quick, easy satisfaction you get from reading a social media post. It’s like exercise and drugs. Exercise boosts your serotonin level, but so do drugs, and drugs do this faster. You only need to take a pill of Molly to get that serotonin boost. But you’ll need to run around the entire estate to feel good. It’s just easier to get serotonin via drugs, even though it’s killing you really fast.
Because social media is designed to give you quick pleasure, its contents are short, typically shallow, and lack depth and nuances. Hence, clickbait headlines, easy humor, memes, undercooked hot takes, etc.
Have you not noticed that when there’s a social media drama, you’re willing to read all the 31 long posts that are related to the drama? The cumulative length of these posts could make up a small book. And yet your brain is more willing to read through this drama than it would be willing to read Malcolm Gladwell’s The Outliers. Your brain is chasing easy pleasure, not overall value improvement. You have to actively fight against the convenience of easy pleasure.
The dangers of short-form hot takes…
The screenshot above is another reason social media sensationalism will always be inferior to the scholarly quality of essays or books. This simple tweet carries a weighty submission without a weighty argument. It totally ignores the fact that there is actual research that shows that both men and women prefer to hear female AI voices giving prompts or instructions. And these voices don’t just take instructions, they give instructions more than half of the time. Plus thinking about it now, we all subconsciously got used to the voices of our mothers threatening our lives for failing to carry out the most mundane tasks. Of course, we need a female voice to remind us of our childhood trauma.
Now this simple 140-letter tweet will become the basis upon which people will hold a strong opinion.
If this were a book, the author would have to confront established facts using actual research and will have to establish an argument that contradicts the nuances of existing opinions. The end result is that the knowledge the essay or book would give will be more nuanced and far superior to this tweet.
Most of our present-day ideologies are built on short social media declarations like this because people are more willing to engage with viral, sensational content.
Reading a book will not give you this satisfaction within the first few paragraphs or even within the first few pages. But its content is of a far, far better quality than everything you’d read on Twitter threads or even Facebook posts.
Way forward?
In today’s digital age, our minds have become accustomed to the quick bursts of information social media provides. While entertaining and easy to digest, these short-form contents often lack the depth and comprehensiveness of traditional sources of knowledge. To cultivate a more profound understanding and enrich our intellect, we must train our minds to transition from these fleeting social media snippets to engaging with more substantial and holistic forms of knowledge, such as books.
Breaking free from social media’s cycle of instant gratification can be challenging. The constant stream of likes, shares, and comments creates a feedback loop that keeps us hooked. However, this immediate satisfaction often comes at the expense of deeper cognitive engagement and critical thinking. By consciously deciding to read more articles, essays, and books, we can slowly rewire our brains to appreciate the value of in-depth analysis and thoughtful reflection.
Books offer a unique advantage in this journey towards better knowledge. They allow for a comprehensive exploration of subjects, presenting information in a structured and coherent manner that promotes sustained engagement and critical thinking. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, the act of reading a book requires focus and concentration, skills that are often underdeveloped in the age of social media. By dedicating time to reading books, we gain a deeper understanding of specific topics and enhance our ability to think critically and creatively.
And for the love of God, sometimes, leave social media for a while.
The Wrap Up
That’s all, folks! But before our temporary farewell, I need you to do one tiny favor. One question that always makes me do a double take is the “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” bit, and I have to say it’s one that floors even the most ambitious people. So, we’re trying a little experiment to see if we can predict a person’s job position by asking a few questions!
Have a crack at our survey, and help us tell you what your job position in 5 years will most likely be!
See you soon!
Vaami from SimplVest 🚀
