Why is it that people at large don't read and aren't

because its hard
you can easily get entertainment from watching endless 3 minute funny youtube clips

>>7808681
the fast-paced technological media of our modern-day society. people are used to focusing on things for only short periods of time. reading requires long-term focus. also, the adult reading level in the usa is at an 8th grade level. hence why the king-grey-potter-hunger-tattoo books are so popular.

>>7808703
>the adult reading level in the usa is at an 8th grade level
Jesus christ. Seriously?

generalised cultural nihilism plus extreme ease of gratification

>>7808681
Cultural Marxism. Idolization of rappers and degenerate celebrities replaced healthy Volkisch hero worship due to white guilt.The founding fathers are now 'slaveowners' and evil white men, while Kanye West and Bruce Jenner are hailed as progressive heroes

>>7808709
sorry. it must have dropped since then. 7th grade.

http://campusreform.org/?ID=6174

>>7808709
"The 15% figure for full literacy, equivalent to a university undergraduate level, is consistent with the notion that the "average" American reads at a 7th or 8th grade level which is also consistent with recommendations, guidelines, and norms of readability for medication directions, product information, and popular fiction."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States

>>7808681
Everyone in the thread is right so far.

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Because we are a generation of pigs. We surrender our children to television and give away our children to be educated by strangers in ((Bill Gates Foundation approved)) education.

enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_5QTTgeHqo

-->>>>>> http://nobodytm.com/index.html <<<<<--

>>7808681
stimuli addiction, general instant-gratification mindset, lack of faith in there being a point to education because of a lack of educated role models and general shallowness of popular entertainment, porn, kanye, ect.

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>>7809442
>>7808714

This image captures the collapse of European civilization. How can people be such dumbasses?

>>7809453
>Kanye
>Caitlyn Jenner
>European

>>7809453
That's American.

>>7809463
>>7809460
I wonder where americans come from.

>>7809472
Originally? Africa.

>>7809472
America.

>>7809472
Every race comes from America you can tell be cause we have every race ie whites and coloreds

>>7808685
First Post Best Post

And before our heads descend too far into our own well-read asses, I'd like to remind everyone in this thread that though /lit/ is a pretty highbrow board, this site as a whole is definitely part of the problem of why more people don't read.

>>7808767
I recently realized that my parents did this with me.
>bought a shitty TV (not even the expensive-kind).
>Left me to watch tv all day long while they were going about their lives.
>Their only worry was to dress and feed me, they didn't give a shit about anything else about me.
I watched so much fucking tv in my early years that by the age of 12 I was tired of it's repetitiveness and started reading books out of boredom because I didn't had anything else... fuck fuck fuck.

>>7808681
What do you mean by learning?

>>7810087
Education and hobbyist research.

>>7808681
I can't wait for all the REEEEtards to say something like "lol it's 'cause it's hard" or "well it's because of today's technology y'know, people used to read hard /lit/ all the time before SOCIAL MEDIA took over".

It's none of those things. It's simple.

The average dude has most of his time taken up by work and friends, as well as family. These are therefore his priority. He will gossip with friends about friends, do his job, look after his wife and children (and his wife will look after him &c.). This is fine (well, except for the job bit -- but that's a whole other discussion). This is why shallow, easy-to-dip-into entertainment is and always has been so popular; penny-novels (YA or shitty bestsellers), blockbusters, AAA games, pop music, sports that you always leave on the TV, very light BDSM; nothing you'd have to commit yourself to. So literature just doesn't occur to them. Why would it?

Now, your average guy will also have some hobby or other that they're more heavily into, and this might be lit. But -- only might.

>>7808681
Because they don't gain anything of monetary value from it.

>>7808714

You're not wrong, but i think you would be more comfortable at /pol/

No time
AdHd
Most books seem uninteresting (I remember a few years ago when I first tried to get into reading again every book that seemed cool turned out to be about cops)

As for learning they don't know what specific career path they want, plus college is too expensive

>>7810314
Nigger I've got ADHD. It only fucks with you if you're not interested in something.

In my opinion people don't read because they get the idea that reading is for smart, academical people. They don't pick up a classical book because they are afraid they won't understand it and waste their time. I'm pretty certain that most people would be into literature of some sort if they had the balls to begin reading.
There's also the thing that they want to blend in and be normal. If you're only friends are partying Chads or potheads, they will think you weird or pretentious for having such an occupation.

>>7808681
I'm starting to meet more and more "bros" who pride themselves by the fact that they didn't read a single book in college. It's not like they're wrong, they do end up getting well paying jobs as pharmaceutical reps and salesmen -- using those people skills that they acquired. I'm just disappointed that people with literary skills have to use shallow vocabulary in order to gain access to the majority of the population. Philosophical works are out of the question -- people are too preoccupied with the process of fucking each other and forgetting about life through drugs. But whatever, it's all pointless anyway.

>>7808681

Is that Dominic Fernow?

>>7810323
to a degree. it is harder to commit yourself to something, and harder to opt for delayed gratification

but yeah its no excuse for never reading if you claim to be interested

>>7808681
>STEM doctoral student

I don't have time to read, and honestly I'm getting pretty tired of learning drudgery in graduate life.

At a certain point I felt as though I learned all I needed for a foundation. Now I'm just carving a niche, which I may or may not take so far.

Why spend all my time learning and not living?

>>7808681
because reading is fucking gay. You're not gay are you OP?

>>7810200
Lately I've been keeping to my self more and sort of anti social, but I still keep in contatct with family and friends while still having time to read as I socialize minutely on weekends.

so yes, it has to do something with real life happenings; work, studies, weekend outings etc. but technology, social pressures and short attention spans also factor into it.

not to account for not everyone needs literature.

I would say that reading shows a willingness to put yourself in another's shoes. My feeling is that this faculty is being bred out of the populace.

I also agree with others up top who said plebs don't see a societal advantage in it. Also, time is never spare for the conformist.

Lots of people read and are interested in in learning. I don't think they're interested in reading worthless stuff like fiction.

>>7810709
>learning and not living?

Talk about false dichotomies to make you feel better about being a pleb eh

>>7810709
so why are you on /lit/ faggot

>>7810777
>implying subjective experience needs logical consistencies

Parasailing > 90% of literature.

>>7810783
Yeah, I don't parasail but I do a lot of shit besides literature, it's pretty easy to maintain a social + professional (or academic) life, having other hobbies (including literature) and go parasailing or some shit, as long as you don't lose your days on 4ching or watching the latest season of whatever

>>7810200
More or less this, after school/work/errands/housekeeping/socializing most people want to relax and unwind with something that is entertaining but not mentally taxing and it takes a lot more mental resources to read literature or educational material than most other forms of media.

>>7808681
>Why is it that people at large don't read

I think they do. It's usually just shit they pick up off the shelves at their local Walmarts, like James Patterson or Harry Potter.

More to the point is why people show no interest in reading more constructive things or taking up independent studies.

they don't need to

people are reading more than ever before

but it's their facebook feed

>>7810803
bazinga

>>7810803
#feeltheBern

xD

>>7810803
so true...... makes u think.....

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>>7810803

why bother? many people see self improvement as a means to an end.

only read when you need the wisdom of a self-help or when you want to contribute to water cooler discussions about a nyt best seller.

reading, and learning in general, is something that happens to you. it's assigned by an educator or required by an employer. it's not something you seek out of your own volition.

>>7808681
We live in a post-literate culture where images and sounds have taken the place of written language

>>7808681
People aren't interested in learning because to learn requires you to admit that you were uninformed, potentially destroying the ego.

People also do read, but not at the level required to deeply appreciate a well-written book. People will skim through the Da Vinci code and then pat themselves on the back for finishing such a "cultured, dense" book. Again, reading a more sophisticated book would lead to the destruction of the ego. The reader would struggle to understand the meaning of the book, and maybe even give up without finishing, ruining their image of themself as an avid reader.

>>7810848
>>7811069
>>7811079
>>7811091

you can mock it but it's largely true, plenty of my friends seem to spend half their day looking at their phone either checking facebook/instagram/snapchat or reading some shitty clickbait article

it's still reading and doesn't take that much less effort than reading a worthwhile book, but is a huge time sink

>>7809460
>Caitlyn

Because it's distantly related to pleasure (not to say unrelated insofar as it can create the good life). Most people want to spend the time they aren't compelled to do stuff by the need for money on socializing, eating good food, exercising, shopping, going on vacations if they're lucky, or doing drugs if they're the type to do them. That's really it; everything else just creates stress. And desu I'm not sure it's so unreasonable of them to be unwilling to defer gratification and educate themselves on dry topics so that they can grasp at some nebulous state of fulfillment (at the very least, conversation, food and sex give you what they offer). It's not the worst thing to pass through life with mentally numb stimulation and work and then die.

Because they enjoy being poor. Also there is a certain enjoyment that people have that has too do with bragging about being a moron

People are deeply afraid of introspection

>>7810643
Yup, good eye. He resonates with me a lot, mostly because his projects are 90% inspired by literature, and he places enormous focus on track titles, lyrical content, and visual artwork. The actual audio only serves to give context to those elements.

>>7811311

this

I strive to educate myself with literature (or, more so, essays and research papers and etc.) on things that I'm interested in, and things that actually need to know.

I'm strive for that happy middle-ground, somewhere between the two extremes described in this post.

If anything, /lit/'s incessant need for 'education through literature' is vain and not fulfilling; it's imbued with a lot of group-think 4chan culture (i.e. if you're not like us then fuck off ur a faggot-thinking)

Thinking is challenging and fun! But if you think doing anything other than that is somehow 'lesser', then by God you seem like such a joyless asshole.

>>7811339

so, everything but the music?

reminds me of David Cage (games)

>>7808681
Speaking for myself, i'm immensely lazy. To the point of basically being a failed human being. I have a lot of books, and definitely have a desire to read them and learn, it just never seems to overpower my laziness so I end up playing Dark Souls.

>>7808767
Lol maybe this was the new school equivalent of making you smoke the whole pack in one sitting so you'll never smoke again

>>7808685
>>7810049
Best posts in the thread.

>>7811579
fukken leave

>>7808681
Too much else to do with less strain on the mind.

>>7811579
there's a time and a place for everything. this morning I finished Catcher in the Rye and almost got the last few things I need for the DaS plat trophy. go learn some self-discipline

"back in the day" people read books to be entertained. smartphones have completely taken over that role now for those kinds of people

>>7812024
Hello middle school

>>7808767
Meh, I watched a ton of Animaniacs as a kid, I eventually read postmodern doostoppers.

You don't want to be the kid in school that isn't allowed to watch TV -at least not in America. That's changing a bit, as I've noticed kids actually don't watch as much TV as they do use the Internet. That's its own thing...