But the what, why and how of reading has changed drastically with the onset of the Internet and smartphones. Reading online is to sift through a barrage of rapid-fire information. This means that the way we read and access information on the Internet has fundamentally re-wired our brains.
Language is not innate – it is learned. Unlike sight or cognition, language and reading are things that our brains need to be taught. The language and the ways we learn it build different circuits in our brain. For example, Chinese and Japanese languages use different parts of our brains than languages that are based on an alphabet.
As we learn, the brain creates new circuits, grows new synapses, and fundamentally changes its structure. These circuits can be rewired at any age – so even if you grew up reading only in books, if you now read primarily online, your brain can be impacted.
Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, has also expressed concerns about the way the Internet has changed the way we read, and, by extension, the way we think. He was recently quoted in the Globe and Mail as saying: “I worry that the level of interrupt, the sort of overwhelming rapidity of information … is, in fact, affecting cognition. It is affecting deeper thinking. I still believe that sitting down and reading a book is the best way to really learn something. And I worry that we’re losing that.” The research backs him up. Neuroscientists Susan Greenfield and Gary Small have recently published funding that digital native brains do engage in concretely different ways from those of previous generations. Spending most of your life staring at a screen does indeed re-wire your brain.
Scholar and literacy advocate Dr. Maryanne Wolf believes our new online reading habits is eroding more than just our ability to concentrate. Her recently published book, Reader, Where Are You? delves deeper into this issue. Her research shows that this shallow reading impacts memory, creativity, wisdom, the capacity for empathy and sophisticated, critical thinking.
The good news is that because these synapses can be re-wired, your ability to focus and read deeply can still be reformed.
Do yourself a favor, and pick up a print newspaper instead of scrolling through the highlights online. Read a magazine instead of a visiting a website. We have lots of different magazines and newspapers available at every branch of the library. And of course, read books. Turn off your screens – TV, laptop, smartphone – off, and let yourself sit and be immersed in a story. If you need help choosing one that’s worth your time, your local librarians are always here to help.