With technology getting more complicated and younger generations relying on electronics more than ever, it’s common for people to lack the ability to realize their dependency. It has become disturbingly easy to get addicted to the constant stimulus that modern day technology provides to its consumers. Mobile phones, computers, video games, television and a plethora of other machines are inventions that have certainly moved society forward, however, it has also made other healthier forms of stimulus much less popular. One of the most vital of those would be reading.
The act of sitting down, unwinding, and reading about something that interests you or takes you out of reality is something that I believe, unfortunately, will soon be lost in the sands of time. Whether it be a novel or a simple magazine about something you enjoy, getting lost in a reading for a while makes your head feel clear and thoughts to be more properly organized. While most people get home from work and sit down on the couch after a long day, turning on the television and mindlessly staring at whatever pictures move across the complex piece of machinery, that wasn’t even an option for anyone not too long ago. People resorted to reading books in order to experience a story and get that calming sense of stimulus after a hard day.
Now, younger kids are on their phones hourly, watching videos and destroying their attention span with the constant dopamine they receive from staring at their screens like zombies. As someone who fell under this meaningless spell and never even thought to pick up a book a couple years ago, I assure you, taking time out of your day to read is worth it more than you know.
A majority of the time that people claim they dislike reading just say that because they haven’t in years or because they have never attempted reading something that has to do with their interests. School is one of the largest contributors to this unfortunate attitude because they force kids to read books that they don’t like for countless years, so when they finally graduate, they hardly ever want to see a book again for the rest of their lives. I don’t even remember the last time I met anyone who read an entire book for a class page to page without looking at spark notes at least once. Technology makes our lives easier, but also makes us inarguably lazier.
The only point I’m trying to get across is that taking the time out of your day to expand your mind by reading a book on a topic that you are passionate about will do nothing but benefit you. Think about what your interests are, do some research on books and authors who explore those interests, then get some reading material. The most challenging part is to sit down and actually read the darned thing.
Put your phone locked away in another room and prepare to be consumed by a surplus of information that will stimulate and satisfy your head far more than a pointless television show or video would. It may take a while, but the secret is consistency and dedication. Once you begin getting pleasure out of it is when you will come to the realization of how much time is wasted with forms of stimulus that don’t benefit you intellectually. After you pass that barrier, the craving for wanting to read and learn more becomes irreversible.
Billy/William Pruett can be contacted at
wpruett@kscequinox.com
