Im a millennial and even I've noticed my generations literacy tanking over the years as the Internet has grown and the shorts/Instagram reel/Tiktok trend has shortened attention spans. I've made it a goal to read two books a month now but that's easier said than done time wise.
It's wild. I was reading Lord of the Rings, Of Mice and Men, Treasure Island and so on when I was 13-14. My nephew who just turned 16 can't read anything that isn't manga. His mother told me that I couldn't get him the Harry Potter novels because he legit couldn't read them
maybe I should make a separate thread about this but imo there are separate issues going on and it's helpful to distinguish them
at the base is that people simply struggle with reading because of poor early teaching. part of the fail here is whole language instead of phonics but another critical part of the fail is forcing reading too early.
then there's the destruction of attention spans - however, I think there's more to this than meets the eye as well. I'm skeptical that tiktok is as brainrotting as people say, I think this is an easy out from examining other factors, esp sleep deprivation. Tiktok is probably not helping but I know a lot of people, myself included, who spend retarded amounts of time online and still read complex texts, sometimes in multiple languages. However we tend have lowstress lifestyles, don't commute, get natural light and exercise, stuff like that.
Finally at the tippy top there are skillsets involved with being able to read complex syntax with vocabulary and jargon you don't know. If you can't do this, it's very difficult to find things to read as an adult that aren't boring.
One of the ways this plays out I've noticed is that intelligent young people who are curious about the world default to youtube videos when they want information on a topic. They tend to feel bad about this and like they "should" be reading. But 1) they read slowly and it's cognitively taxing and 2) they lack the higher order "tippy top" skills I discussed. So it's very difficult for them to read texts, they feel shame about this. They try to read books because they intuit that reading is important, but they fall into the trap that what they can read easily is boring, and what they can read that is full of information and interest is too taxing.
The way to fix this is to read *and write* tremendous amounts. For reading, you have to read stuff that is easy for you, and build up. You should only feel strain when you also feel eagerness. This is difficult for adults because easy texts tend to be dull. Science books for kids are one good option, any kind of genre fiction you enjoy, it's about quantity not quality here. One of the most important techniques for child reading is listening to someone read aloud while following along with the text, but this is something that adults frequently can't tolerate. We are not children and we have to learn differently. For writing, keep a notebook and rephrase the informational youtube videos you watch. Keep a regular diary, write down imaginary scenarios, do emotional girly journaling, just write *a lot.* It's better to do it with your hand but it's better to type than not do it at all.
Everyone here is competent at these skills or you wouldn't choose to engage in a forum in your free time but if you're frustrated at not being able to read as fast as you want or at being stymied by older books or by more academic prose, this is how you level up. It seems paradoxical, that the way to read difficult prose is by reading a huge quantity of easy prose, but it works.
I bless the rains, down in Aaaaaafricaaaaaaaa~"
