Post

Anyone else conflicted by this Atlantic essay? I agree with the author that the “democracy depends on reading” line won’t be effective. Then again, promoting reading as a “vice” seems like a mistake, especially now as so many folks are starved for wisdom/virtue/healthy pleasures.

theatlantic.comReading Is a ViceBeing a reader means cultivating a relationship with the world that, by most standards, can seem pointless and counterproductive.

5/1/26, 2:54 pm0 reposts2 likes

Tilman Bayer

@tilmanbayer.bsky.social

7 Jan

Refreshingly honest, but the author still falls victim to the fallacy of evoking "reading" by highlighting pinnacles of world literature (Proust, Flaubert, Cervantes, Joyce) instead of a more representative sample of what people actually read.

Tilman Bayer

@tilmanbayer.bsky.social

7 Jan

I'm not judging readers of John Grisham, Tom Clancy, or Danielle Steel, but are their books really superior founts of "wisdom" or "virtue"?

Tilman Bayer

@tilmanbayer.bsky.social

7 Jan

And the referred study (www.cell.com/iscience/ful... ) excluded "digital media" (except Kindle books), noting "Among young people in particular, digital media use may be replacing reading for personal interest." Think someone learning about Leonardo da Vinci from Wikipedia instead Dan Brown novels 😉

cell.comThe decline in reading for pleasure over 20 years of the American Time Use SurveyPublic health; Sociology