The Way We Read is Changing

In the article titled “In the Beginning Was the Word” the author, Christine Rosen explains how we as a society are starting to read differently, because of the popularity of the internet our eyes have been trained to read quickly, and skim through paragraphs rather than reading them whole. The article begins with a very interesting fact I was not aware of regarding the very popular Reader’s Digest publication. Reader’s Digest was a multimillion dollar publication that began in the early 20’s and they just recently had to file for bankruptcy. This news is completely mind blowing to someone like me. I have always been a fan of print work and to know that one of the top selling publications of its times could not stay afloat is simply saddening. I suppose the Internet would be the one to blame, with all the information anyone could ever want right at his or her finger tips it does not surprise me one bit people are migrating to online work. Rosen goes on to compare the Internet and other technologies to the invention of the wheel, it was crucial and life changing for the whole world and we should welcome all improvements made to it. I can honestly say I whole-hardheartedly agree with this statement. I cannot imagine a life without the Internet, and like the article also states, the human need to tell stories will not fade; it will simply take on new forms. Learning about the studies recently done on the human brain when it reads online print and regular print is really astounding to me, to know that people’s eyes physically shift faster and scan a page rather than reading word for word is nothing short of outrageous. I will say again though I am not surprised, I know I am guilty of doing this myself. Overall I found the article to be very intriguing, it gives a good glimpse into what the future holds for writers.