Another book sale weekend at the local library (University Heights)—as designated by the third Saturday of the month (today is fourth Sunday)—is but memory. Our good friend Kerry, whom we hadn’t seen for more than three years, visited yesterday—so, I missed the better of the two days.
But I hauled my butt the 0.8-kilometer (half-mile) walk and looked for books for the women; I brought back a Moosewood cooking follow-up for my wife and two tomes on herbs for our daughter. I saw little that interested me.
A couple hours earlier, I walked by Old Trolley Barn Park, where I used Nikon Zf and NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens to capture the Featured Image. Vitals: f/8, ISO 360, 1/500 sec, 400mm; 10:11 a.m. PDT. Composed as shot.
Honestly, the gentleman doesn’t look comfortably seated to me, but he absolutely was engrossed in his book. There was plenty enough noise distraction, such as kids playing or motorcycle revving, to break his concentration. But, no, he remained firmly fixated on his book. Outstanding!
You should be reading like this, as should I. Electronic devices are nothing but sources of distraction and interruption that make seemingly impossible any way of becoming engrossed in a good story. You need a physical book, which isn’t enough. You also have to put the device aside and silenced. If the story engages enough, any normal repetitive, temptation to check that electronic thing-a-nuisance should be purged, maybe even extinguished.
A tactile book that you hold and focus intently on is highly immersive. The interaction fosters retention and satisfaction. Devices diminish both.
Technology changes you, and distraction massively interrupts the normal memory process, as Nicholas Carr explains in his book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. The trendsetting tome has been updated since my reading of the original more than 15 years ago. The observations and science remain relevant, if not more so given the increased intrusion each of us experiences in our highly connected lives. The Internet and supporting applications/devices offer tremendous utility. But they take away while giving.
Step back. Read a real book. Go to the park, like this gentleman did on a Sunday morning.