Deep reading processes may be under threat as we move into digital-based modes of reading. Maryanne Wolf in The Guardian
It happened a few days ago. The opening words of a familiar chapter in my OYB:
I urge you . . .present your bodies. . . sacrifice . . . holy . . . reasonable . . .
After awhile I realized my eyes were moving rapidly down the page while my mind bounced through the verses, hitting random words like a rubber ball. I stopped reading and sat there for a minute, thinking. One of the benefits of daily Bible reading in a consistent format is developing familiarity with God’s Word. Was familiarity breeding—skimming? Or is it something else?
My environment is conducive to reading and study and prayer: the desk with its books and notepads, adjustable overhead lighting, a large window with a view to the eastern hills, quiet. And here I sit, Bible open, pencil in hand, skimming.
It is a modern-day trend with significant long-term effects. In her article, Skim Reading is the New Normal/The Effect on Society is Profound, scholar Maryanne Wolf relates how our “deep reading” processes are being threatened. We aren’t born with these processes in place, but they are developed in specific environments. For instance, in the course of human history the brain learned how to process hieroglyphics, ancient scripts, wildly diverse alphabets. Then, Gutenberg’s printing press in 1436 would make the act of reading possible for the masses.
The act of reading, as it turns out, promotes both brain and cognitive health. Longer, more complex texts enable us to internalize knowledge, analyze and infer, and develop insight into what is being read. Studies show that many college students actively avoid longer, more difficult texts from the last two centuries because, with the advent of personal computers and smart phones, they simply don’t have the patience.
It’s showing up in young students, as well. Studies are revealing that students who read print exhibit superior comprehension to those reading screens.
The idea that vast amounts of information is making us all smarter faster is flawed. Vast amounts of information are flowing across screens viewed by brains with increasingly constricted comprehension. This ultimately makes for a society generally unable to “grasp complexity, to understand another’s feelings, to perceive beauty, and to create thoughts of the reader’s own.” (Wolf)
Over time our brains adapt to this new of receiving information. However, according to UCLA psychologist, Patricia Greenfield, the result will be that “less attention and time will be allocated to slower, time-demanding deep reading processes,”
So here I am sharing on a screen about how reading on a screen has begun to interfere to some degree with my Bible reading. It is a conundrum and I am well aware of it. So it is up to me to go back to Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter twelve, and reconsider his words of instruction and grace. Such as:
Be kindly affectioned (sweet tempered), with brotherly love. Honor others (as in honor up, honor down, honor all around). Be diligent (pay attention, don’t skim), and be robust in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, and be patient in tribulation (often hard). Continue steadfastly in prayer (steadfastly). Remember to mind the needs of those in your sphere—and (seriously) be hospitable.
There is a whole lot more in that chapter, including some interesting instruction on vengeance. But you get the point.
Skimming the Bible is like spiritual snacking. Clearly, it won’t lead to spiritual health. A favorite verse of mine, Jeremiah 15:16, addresses this beautifully:
Your words were found and I ate them. And your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your Name, O Lord of hosts.
We dedicate that quantity of time to sit and ingest God’s Word, ruminate, ponder. We pray that we will be humble enough to feel its conviction, hungry enough to receive its truths with clarity. And, as you may already know, deep reading produces deep joy.