Not my best, I know - but it perfectly describes the average person today.
Like a sumo wrestler’s diet of everything and anything, we’ve trained ourselves to consume as much information as our three-pound brains can take… right up until it verges on spilling out our ears.
We walk around like mini encyclopedias. Without question, we are the best equipped generation in the history of mankind for general trivia!
And yet… we are reading less and less
How is that possible?
How do we know so much - while reading so little?
First Type of Reading
When I say the word reading, you probably picture someone holding a book, everything else switched off, fully immersed.
This is traditional reading. Let’s call it "intentional reading" (no academic definition here — just common sense).
Its value is undeniable. Deep focus. Deep retention. Deep understanding.
But the cost? Attention.
In 2026, the thought of dedicating yourself to one single task is ridiculous! To turn off all notifications, ignoring messages, and committing to pages of uninterrupted thought feels… expensive.
Intentional reading gives a lot.
But it demands a lot too.
Second Way of Reading
Reading articles online… Now this is my bread & butter (Controversial opinion, but I don’t think Sports Analysts write enough). I’ll read top to bottom - sometimes even twice. Yes, I’m that sports fanatic.
But most people? They scan
You’re probably doing it right now.
You glance through headlines.
You read the first few sentences.
You hunt for keywords.
You skim bullet points (yes, I know we LOVE bullet point lists)
You extract what you need, connect the dots, file away the knowledge nugget for a trivia questions 23 years from now - and move on.
Let’s call this “Selective Reading.”
It’s efficient.
It’s fast.
It works.
The danger? We mistake familiarity for expertise. We read one excerpt and suddenly feel qualified to debate the topic (I’m confessing my weakness here).
“Selective Reading” trains us to consume information quickly - but not necessarily deeply.
Third Type of Reading
Alas, my friends, if you’ve read up to this point, then you know there’s but a third way of reading. A way that in the modern world, we’ve leapt into fully - the most efficient way of consuming information yet… in Pokemon terms, the final evolution of the InfoConsumo!
About a decade ago, we commonly used the phrase “TMI” — too much information. It meant, “I’ve heard enough; you can stop there.” The responsibility sat with the listener — I’ve reached my limit.
Then something shifted.
“TMI” gradually gave way to “TL;DR” — too long; didn’t read.
That phrase changes everything. The burden moves from the consumer to the creator. It no longer says, “I’ve had enough.” It says, “Make it shorter - or I won’t engage.”
TL;DR reflects a cultural move toward convenience and efficiency — but it also subtly dismisses the effort behind thoughtful writing. The focus centers on the reader’s preference, often at the expense of the writer’s craft. After all, what’s the point of creating something meaningful if no one is willing to engage with it?
And so we evolved again.
Enter: The Ears
Podcasts. Audiobooks. Long-form interviews.
Over the past decade, they’ve exploded.
Convenient? Tick.
Time-efficient? Tick.
Multitasking friendly? Tick.
Accessible... anytime, any place? Tick
But here’s the tension.
And look, I’m not anti-podcast. I’m not anti-audibook. I use them, and love the convenience.
And I agree, we should adapt with the times.
But listening - for all its strengths - lacks some of the core benefits that reading uniquely develops.
Improved Focus: Reading requires sustained attention. Because you must actively process the words, retention is often stronger.
Development of Language Skills: Reading expands vocabulary, strengthens spelling, and exposes you directly to sentence structure and grammar.
Internalisation: When you read, your brain sees punctuation, paragraph flow, tone shifts. This naturally sharpens writing ability.
Immersive Experience: Reading forces imagination. You create the voices. The scenery. The pace. It becomes personal.
Complex Material: Technical, academic, or dense literature is often understood better when read, because you, the reader, can control the pace & digest complex ideas
Most importantly is this… Reading is something you “do,” where listening is something that “happens to you.”
Reading is an act of engagement. The words on the page aren’t going to read themselves, which is something they literally do in an audiobook. Audiobooks will make progress with or without your participation. You can tune in, tune out, finish the book, and say you’ve read it… but did you really??
Few activities rival reading when talking about cognitive development - actively training the brain - focus, memory, language, imagination - all at once.
We are the most informed generation in history.
But are we the most engaged?
That’s where I stand.
How about you?