rob
Active member
Sadly the mobile TV sets in people's hands is killing us softly. We all loved the TV set in the 1970's and through the 1980's, (Professor Julius Summer Miller and Fred Flintstones with Barney Rubble, on that little black and white screen) well now you have a IPAD mobile phone screen to watch content in glorious colour, in whatever entertainment you like. However it costs you money, heaps of money to watch, in 8 second presentations of pictures and sounds. Some pictures are generated by AI and this leaves us bewildered in a world beyond human possibilities. It is mesmerizing, addictive and highly destructive.
"One of the primary culprits behind the decline in reading is the rise of digital distractions. Smartphones, tablets, and computers have become omnipresent, offering endless streams of entertainment and information that compete directly with reading.
Social Media and Bite-Sized Content
Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter (now X) thrive on short, visually stimulating content designed to capture attention within seconds. This stands in stark contrast to the sustained focus required for reading. The constant influx of notifications and the addictive nature of scrolling further erode the ability to concentrate on longer texts.
Streaming Services and Gaming
The rise of streaming platforms like Netflix and video games as dominant forms of leisure activities has also contributed. These media are immersive and visually engaging, often requiring far less cognitive effort than reading.
The Attention Economy
The “attention economy” incentivizes companies to design content that captures and holds users’ attention. As a result, people increasingly gravitate toward activities that provide immediate rewards, making reading—a slower, more reflective process—less appealing.
bigarcheology.com/the-quiet-crisis-why-people-arent-reading-anymore/
Rob: "Am 8:11 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
The Bible predicts a famine in Bible reading, thus a decline in genuine faith, and people will not find the process of salvation.
The IPAD "Mobile TV screen" is reducing your cognitive attention for anything.
Such a device listens to your needs and plays random attractions as you like them.
So you get addicted to wasting time by playing on your emotions.
So how do you witness to somebody about Jesus in less than 8 seconds of a person's time?
Digital media damaging attention spans
“Access to and extensive use of digital media continues to impact upon children’s recreational reading, creating an appetite for instant gratification that competes for their time and attention,” the researchers write. Furthermore, “scholars argue that sustained surface skimming is reducing our cognitive patience and ability to tolerate ambiguity and engage in deep reading and reflection, orienting us towards consuming rather than understanding texts.”
australiareads.org.au/news/report-young-peoples-reading/
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Rob: Not only is reading decreasing, but so is talking also decreasing.
“Why Is Everyone So Bad at Talking Lately?”
The Reason Communication Feels Off (and What You Can Do About It)
Let’s talk about the thing we all feel but rarely say out loud:
Communication feels… harder than ever.
Since COVID, something shifted.
Conversations got clunkier. Misunderstandings got messier. And even the most confident communicators started second-guessing themselves.
Maybe you've noticed it too:
That awkward silence on Zoom
The “just checking in” email that never gets a reply
The fear of saying something wrong, so you just don’t say anything at all
We’re emailing more, talking less, and when we do speak, it’s often rushed, reactive, or just... surface-level.
www.tomi.au/post/why-is-everyone-so-bad-at-talking-lately
Rob: So I noticed from my research, there are two groups emerging in society
(1) Those who read less and talk less. Over 80% of us fit here, we like our mobile TV set in our hands,
and we pay helps of money for this addictive entertainment.
(2) Those who read books and want to talk more. The other 20% fit here. I have a pre-paid Internet account so I cannot watch too many U-Tube videos, and I don't like watching them anyway. I often copy video sermon transcripts and read the transcript because people waffle too much and do not get to the point. Most videos are full of fluff and not stuff. It wastes my time watching and listening to it. And it costs money to listen to a download that is more or less a monologue of sound anyway. It is more efficient in terms of resources to read the content.
Now my readers would have given up now : too much context, too deep, and switched off. So I will stop....
Ho 4:6 ¶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge....
Strange, while this kind of knowledge increases in the end of time,
Da 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
What irony while knowledge increases, the people's knowledge decreases. Shalom
"One of the primary culprits behind the decline in reading is the rise of digital distractions. Smartphones, tablets, and computers have become omnipresent, offering endless streams of entertainment and information that compete directly with reading.
Social Media and Bite-Sized Content
Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter (now X) thrive on short, visually stimulating content designed to capture attention within seconds. This stands in stark contrast to the sustained focus required for reading. The constant influx of notifications and the addictive nature of scrolling further erode the ability to concentrate on longer texts.
Streaming Services and Gaming
The rise of streaming platforms like Netflix and video games as dominant forms of leisure activities has also contributed. These media are immersive and visually engaging, often requiring far less cognitive effort than reading.
The Attention Economy
The “attention economy” incentivizes companies to design content that captures and holds users’ attention. As a result, people increasingly gravitate toward activities that provide immediate rewards, making reading—a slower, more reflective process—less appealing.
bigarcheology.com/the-quiet-crisis-why-people-arent-reading-anymore/
Rob: "Am 8:11 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
The Bible predicts a famine in Bible reading, thus a decline in genuine faith, and people will not find the process of salvation.
The IPAD "Mobile TV screen" is reducing your cognitive attention for anything.
Such a device listens to your needs and plays random attractions as you like them.
So you get addicted to wasting time by playing on your emotions.
So how do you witness to somebody about Jesus in less than 8 seconds of a person's time?
Digital media damaging attention spans
“Access to and extensive use of digital media continues to impact upon children’s recreational reading, creating an appetite for instant gratification that competes for their time and attention,” the researchers write. Furthermore, “scholars argue that sustained surface skimming is reducing our cognitive patience and ability to tolerate ambiguity and engage in deep reading and reflection, orienting us towards consuming rather than understanding texts.”
australiareads.org.au/news/report-young-peoples-reading/
--------------------
Rob: Not only is reading decreasing, but so is talking also decreasing.
“Why Is Everyone So Bad at Talking Lately?”
The Reason Communication Feels Off (and What You Can Do About It)
Let’s talk about the thing we all feel but rarely say out loud:
Communication feels… harder than ever.
Since COVID, something shifted.
Conversations got clunkier. Misunderstandings got messier. And even the most confident communicators started second-guessing themselves.
Maybe you've noticed it too:
That awkward silence on Zoom
The “just checking in” email that never gets a reply
The fear of saying something wrong, so you just don’t say anything at all
We’re emailing more, talking less, and when we do speak, it’s often rushed, reactive, or just... surface-level.
www.tomi.au/post/why-is-everyone-so-bad-at-talking-lately
Rob: So I noticed from my research, there are two groups emerging in society
(1) Those who read less and talk less. Over 80% of us fit here, we like our mobile TV set in our hands,
and we pay helps of money for this addictive entertainment.
(2) Those who read books and want to talk more. The other 20% fit here. I have a pre-paid Internet account so I cannot watch too many U-Tube videos, and I don't like watching them anyway. I often copy video sermon transcripts and read the transcript because people waffle too much and do not get to the point. Most videos are full of fluff and not stuff. It wastes my time watching and listening to it. And it costs money to listen to a download that is more or less a monologue of sound anyway. It is more efficient in terms of resources to read the content.
Now my readers would have given up now : too much context, too deep, and switched off. So I will stop....
Ho 4:6 ¶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge....
Strange, while this kind of knowledge increases in the end of time,
Da 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
What irony while knowledge increases, the people's knowledge decreases. Shalom
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