When reflecting on the history of communication, the rapid and accelerating development of technologies impose several paradigm shifts throughout the ages. In the ancient world, meaning was conveyed through the inflection of speech. With the emergence of word order standards, the structure of language expanded and the publishing industry was born. As the written word influenced the growth of a literate culture, individuals’ intellectual capacities would be challenged by the necessity of decoding text. Dating back to the collapse of the Roman Empire, the written word perpetually focused on accommodating the unique appetite of readers. As people became more literate and demanded a quick and private reading environment, a “revolution in the structure
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Moreover, deep reading becomes possible when the brain is able to allocate more effort to the interpretation of meaning in a text. Characterized by sustained and undistracted reading, deep reading creates spaces for deep contemplation and reflection. As readers become more efficient and attentive, the mental discipline of concentration develops in order to “lose oneself in the pages of a book.” As the natural state of the human brain is one of distractedness- always shifting gaze and attention- deep reading is therefore an unnatural process of thought, “one that demand(s) sustained, unbroken attention to a single static object” (Carr 64). As Nicholas Carr emphasizes how “the brain of the book reader was more than a literate brain- it was a literary brain,” it is evident that the brain becomes trained according to the environment; the brain becomes more adept to concentration and neural links become strengthened for overall control of attention. In Wallace Stevens’ poem attached on the previous page, the poet eloquently demands the merging of the writer and reader to form the conscious being of a book through a deep reader’s attentiveness. Historically, books fuelled the change of human consciousness when serving as the primary means of exchanging
Moreover, deep reading becomes possible when the brain is able to allocate more effort to the interpretation of meaning in a text. Characterized by sustained and undistracted reading, deep reading creates spaces for deep contemplation and reflection. As readers become more efficient and attentive, the mental discipline of concentration develops in order to “lose oneself in the pages of a book.” As the natural state of the human brain is one of distractedness- always shifting gaze and attention- deep reading is therefore an unnatural process of thought, “one that demand(s) sustained, unbroken attention to a single static object” (Carr 64). As Nicholas Carr emphasizes how “the brain of the book reader was more than a literate brain- it was a literary brain,” it is evident that the brain becomes trained according to the environment; the brain becomes more adept to concentration and neural links become strengthened for overall control of attention. In Wallace Stevens’ poem attached on the previous page, the poet eloquently demands the merging of the writer and reader to form the conscious being of a book through a deep reader’s attentiveness. Historically, books fuelled the change of human consciousness when serving as the primary means of exchanging