Remember the quiet magic of getting lost in a book? That immersive world seems to be vanishing, replaced by the endless, frantic scroll for the next digital “hit.” For Gen Z and A, the dopamine rush from Instagram and TikTok is the new normal, shattering attention spans and devaluing deep thought.
We’re in an age of information overload, where 10-minute summaries replace novels and the dubious “WhatsApp university” passes for knowledge. We have more data than ever, but are we losing our ability to think?
For my generation (people in their 40s & above), a book was an escape and an education. Seeing that passion fade is alarming. How do we reclaim it? I found some answers in Eric Jorgensen’s “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant”, and his ideas, mixed with my own, may offer a way forward:
- The means of learning are abundant - It's the desire to learn that is scarce - Today, with every book and every piece of knowledge ever written down is available on our finger tips but the hunger to learn is dying.
- Read what you love until you love to read - Let the kids read the comics or the Harry potters, something they love to read. Once they are hooked up to reading from the hard copy, they will graduate to reading other books one day.
- Explain what you read and learned to someone else. Teaching forces learning, starts some good conversations and can become a base for your though process & relationships.
- It's not about a child "Studies a lot or not". It should be more about "likes to read" and “doesn't like to read"
At Jeevan Pravaas, we endeavour to instill this love of reading in every student we mentor. It’s the foundation for a curious, thoughtful, and successful life.
But this is a mission for all of us. How do you keep the art of reading alive?