Can you remember the last time you read a real book? Besides the children books I read to my daughter, I can’t remember the last time I read a real book! Most of the the things I read are on the computer or an audio book.
I came across this interesting article talking about how studies show reading a physical book has more benefits than digital. Here is a summary:
“Research indicates that print is easier to comprehend than digital text, with printed materials providing helpful spatial and tactile cues that aid in understanding and retaining information. Studies suggest digital reading may lead to overconfidence and less thorough processing, especially for more complex texts, as the rapid and shallow engagement with digital content doesn’t allow for deep comprehension. Both researchers, Anne Mangen and Lauren Singer Trakhman, recommend using print for in-depth reading to better grasp details and suggest slowing down and using handwriting to better retain information from digital texts.”
Here is the link to the article for a full read: Reading on Paper Versus Screens: What’s the Difference?
So should we be printing off what we are reading online? I have notice when I am reading something physical that I do have a more focus to it since I can’t just scroll and get some new content to see.
The article mentions how scrolling on the phone is training our brains to look for main ideas but not the details which I can see because when I am reading reddit, I look at the titles to find something interesting. But if there is a book length text on the post I clicked, I go back because no one has time for that! haha
Have you noticed a difference between reading on the computer compared to paper?
