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Not a single mention of the word game or gaming in that article. It’s my hypothesis that video games have largely supplanted fiction reading for boys and men over the past several decades. Men do read some science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction books but not general fiction or erotic fiction. Those latter categories are heavily targeted at women (eg. any of Elena Ferrante’s books or smash hits like Fifty Shades of Grey).
There’s nothing here to suggest that toxic masculinity or the rise of Trumpism or the alt-right have anything to do with it.
I (as a 40yo man) stopped reading for the most part many years ago. And it’s not for a lack of trying! I have purchased many books (fiction and nonfiction) but I struggle to bring myself to read them. I just don’t have the attention span and it’s really frustrating. I actually really want to read these books!
Hey, I don't know if it will make a difference for you, but some time ago I had to take a really long trip where I had spotty internet at best, and I got back into reading in that trip because I was really bored. I rediscovered my drive when I went long enough without any alternatives to reading, forcing boredom on myself.
Maybe something like this will help you also?
That’s a great idea! I need to do that at some point! For a long time I’ve wanted to hike the pacific crest trail. Maybe I’ll bring books along for that! Thanks!
The reality is, that most reading is just as mindless entertainment as soap operas or tiktok doomscrolling.
All those crime, romance and drama novels that fill book shelves all over the (western?) world are essentially garbage. It's just that reading has a higher social prestige than TV or gaming.
I strongly disagree, reading any kind of book requires sustaining attention over long periods of time. It doesn't matter if it's 50 Shades or Ulysses, you don't get a dopamine rush from reading a book for 30 seconds like you do with Internet and social media. It's not the same at all and it's not just about prestige. I'd argue that the prestige comes from the fact tha reading books requires more effort and dedication
That the average reader actually pays attention is a bold claim.
Ask any of the "mass readers" in your vicinity about the last book they read. There's a good chance, they barely know the outline. They didn't pay attention, it's just a narrative being pushed through their brain without actually being processed - which is fine, it's just entertainment.
BTW: a few thousand years ago it was argued that reading would destroy our memory because you weren't forced to memorize everything anymore.
Penny Dreadfuls and Pulp Magazines are examples of low quality fiction. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_dreadful
For me at least, reading generally takes more effort for me than just doom scrolling, where I honestly just look at the pictures and captions.
Also depending on the game it may include an impressive amount of reading. I once got an A in english for compiling all of the Mass Effect codex entries from the in universe perspective of half crazed author og them. Also I play CRPGs which means I read a lot.
Yeah I do tons of reading in the games I play! I’ve been playing Caves of Qud and there is a gargantuan amount of reading in that game. A lot of it is AI slop, admittedly, but its text to wade through nevertheless!
I used to sell books at Borders (so far before MAGA crap) and you are 100% correct. Most men were reading books as well, but they really didn't gravitate to Ann Rice's vampire series, Twilight, or even most mystery books. Is was Sci Fi, fantasy, history, general knowledge sort of stuff.
The sheer volume of women buying romance novels was staggering, and I think speaks more to porn habits than anything. These women kept the store alive long enough for corporate to fuck up and bankrupt themselves.
Now that I think about it, there was a whole row of JUST Star Wars books. But because Disney erased so much of the Expanded Universe canon that they wrote, they all faded away. I don't even have one in my local Barnes and Noble. Not even a single novel, from what I saw. Everyone totally lost interest and Disney doesn't care to rekindle that spark.