It seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history

Personal Reading Habits & Short-Form Addiction

• Many commenters describe being pulled into short-form video and social media “doomscrolling,” often feeling anxious, hypnotized, or time‑dilated afterward.
• Several report successfully cutting back via blocking apps/sites, timers, “dumb”/reduced‑function phones, or deliberate breaks (e.g., 2 weeks off).
• To rebuild attention, people recommend starting with easy, “pulp” or genre fiction that’s fun rather than “vegetable” books, then ramping up difficulty.

What Counts as Reading?

• Some argue the article wrongly equates “reading” with physical books, ignoring heavy daily reading of email, docs, manuals, web content, Substack, social media, etc.
• Others insist long-form texts (books, multi‑page articles) build different skills: stamina, deep comprehension, and complex inference.
• Audiobooks are debated: some see them as valid reading; others say passive listening while multitasking rarely yields deep learning.

Literacy Levels, Definitions & Regression

• Multiple comments note that “illiteracy” is now often defined on a spectrum (e.g., basic vs proficient), causing confusion with headlines about people “can’t read.”
• Some think literate adults rarely “forget” how to read without disease; what decays is attention span and practice, especially with long texts.
• Others highlight historical context: mass high-level literacy is relatively recent and may have peaked, but global basic literacy is higher than before.

Education, Testing & Skills

• Several see declining reading stamina and inference skills as tied to softer curricula and changes to standardized tests (shorter passages, less pressure to read long texts).
• Others push back that test design is only one factor; life stress, phones, and environment shape what skills students actually practice.

Quality vs Quantity of Reading

• Some argue “reading is good” is too crude: low‑quality or purely escapist books may be no better than TV.
• Others say enjoyment and habit matter more at first; over time readers can move toward more challenging or “higher quality” works if they choose.

Technology, Capitalism & Attention

• Phones, notification-driven apps, and attention-maximizing business models are widely blamed for fragmenting focus and displacing slower media like novels and long articles.
• A few contend that society’s insecurity (economic pressure, overwork) also reduces the mental space needed for deep reading.

Children, Parenting & Hope

• Some parents report kids who are voracious readers and credit: early read‑aloud routines, modeling reading themselves, limited phone/TV, and frequent library visits.
• Others caution parents can provide opportunity but not guarantee love of reading; temperament and alternatives (e.g., Netflix) matter.