The latest issue of Playboy* cites an alarming statistic – 40% of Americans aged 24 to 44 don’t read even one book a year for pleasure. For 18-24 year olds the figure is more like 50%. Tha, as the article says, means books of any kinds – novels, literature, bodice-rippers, even the Bible. It claims most young Americans can’t even name the Evangelists.
This is scary if true. I hesitate to believe it (and certainly this isn’t the pla ce to poll about it – we’re a literate bunch). Like so many of those polls about people’s knowledge this is hard to buy (It always seems as if those people on Jaywalking HAVE to be faking it for the cameras, just to get on TV. Right? Right?)
Can anyone corroborate this?
*My co-workers got me a subscription years ago, saying I was too boring. I’ve never let it lapse. When I tell people I read the articles, they believe me. I think I should be insulted.
Pepper Mill likes looking for the bunny on the cover. And gleefully pointing out the fake boobs.
If I was asked to name the (supposed) authors of the four Gospels, I’d be able to answer in a flash. If I had been asked to name “the Evangelists,” though, I’d fail-- I had to look this term up to see to whom it was supposed to refer. That term for the writers isn’t really used in any of the Protestant denominations I’ve been around… so, I’d have failed the question as asked.
I’ll bet the young’uns would have a difficult time naming the minor prophets, too.
I couldn’t tell you the authors of the Gospels, although I might make a good, lucky guess. And to call them the Evangelists, I’m thinking Swaggart, Roberts, etc.
Oh, and I read a book a month, plus 2 newspapers daily, plus two weekly magazines, plus 1/2 dozen monthly magazines. What does not being able to name the Evangelists, or even the authors of the Gospels, have to do with not reading?
I don’t know about America, but there is one of those “culture and current news knowledge contest” programs on the Spanish-language Basque TV that we follow, and they’ve pretty much retired any questions related to books. Bible questions only get trotted out as the latest possible question. I’ve seen people fail “the four evangelists”, I’ve seen them fail “how many were the evangelists,” I’ve seen them fail “what’s the first book in the Bible,” I’ve seen them fail “who wrote El Quijote” or “name three plays by Shakespeare.”
No wordplay on “Gospel writers” and “Evangelists” here, in Spanish they’re the Evangelistas and the Gospels are the Evangelios.
If you want to catch anybody under about 35 in 20-questions kind of games, choose a book for which there is a movie or cartoon series. They just can’t grok the notion that Heidi wasn’t written after the anime was made.
I believe it, especially for the 18-24 year olds, many of whom are in college. Tough to get much pleasure reading in when you are reading so much that is required. Even my daughter, who is in 5th grade, complains about not having enough time to read books she wants to read, and she’s very much looking forward to spring break and summer vacation. If you don’t really like to read, anyway, I could see someone get burnt out on it.
I like to read, and I don’t get to read as many books as I would like. I’m just too busy. I start a book and then lose track of it. I tend to read things on the internet and magazines and newspapers, or non-fiction books, where it’s easier to skip around to different chapters. Sure, I read at least one book a year, but it would be a lot more if I didn’t have a full-time job. I know people who I work with who never read books (and one who is always reading, sneaking in a few pages while walking from the break room to her desk. For some reason, that disturbs me more than the people who never read.)
Oh, and I would have flunked “Who are the Evangelists?” too, but I know who Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are. Protestant upbringing, agnostic now.
Actually, the article had it that people “didn’t know the authors of the gospels”, IIRC. I simply restated it as “the Evangelists”, thinking that this was common knowledge. I guess not.
Another data point – even Dopers don’t necessarily know that “Evangelists” = “Authors of the Gospels”
(No snarky comebacks saying that they aren’t equivalent – I know “Evangelists” has other meanings. But this one’s clear, in context. And the sentence DOES have context.)
(I guessed what you meant. Pastor’s brat, now agnostic) (but there wasn’t that much context)
I still read for pleasure on occasion, but I think in the past three years, I’ve probably only read, maybe ten books. I’ve been out of the mood for long stuff. I start and my brain goes ‘tl;dr’ And this is a girl who used to read two or three books a day during junior high and high school.
I believe it. I know a fair number of people who not only don’t read books, but the only reading material in the house is maybe a cereal box. And that 40% probably includes a larger percentage at the lowest economic levels, who don’t have a lot of access to books and who also might not have as much time because they have to work extra hours to get by.
I, too, like the title of the thread, since it took me through about three levels of thought to get it. Wait, it’s misspelled, no, he’s being funny, no, you dummy, he’s using the right word but not the one you thought it was.
40% of Americans aged 24 to 40 don’t read even one book per year for pleasure. OK, but how about 100 years ago? Or 200 years ago? I have to imagine the percentage has been going down pretty steadily. Or are you claiming that it’s going up? To me, that’s the key question. If the percentage of people who never read is going down, the stat is a little less alarming.
And frankly, I’m surprised that 60% of Americans read a book or more per year for pleasure. That stat absolutely doesn’t hold where I work. Out of seventy people here, maybe fifteen have ever picked up a book for pleasure. The tube and the Web rule.
Your argument is absurd, and completely misses the point.
I suspect the rate of reading has gone up between the Paleolithic and several years ago, and is now coming down. That’s the suggestion (stated or not) of the article. Clearly literatacy rates even 150 years ago were wrose than today, and you can’t expect people to read a book if they can’t read at all. The problem is that today they can’t, and don’t.
OK, that’s what I would have guessed, but I don’t recall ever hearing them referred to in that way (Catholic upbringing).
To the OP, I believe it. I just came back from a trip to Los Angeles and got on the plane late. Walking down the aisle, I noticed that if someone was reading a book, they were likely 40+. Younger people were far more likely to be plugged into an iPod or watching a DVD. If they were reading, it was more than likely a textbook.
I have also been in many homes where there are no bookshelves (or if there are they don’t hold any books) and often the only book I see is a bible.
Why does only reading books seem to count for these things, and not reading magazines, newspapers, or internet sites? It strikes me as sort of like trying to gauge interest in music by asking how many people listen to CDs.
Well, you didn’t link to the article (I guess because it’s in Playboy?), so maybe I misunderstood its stated or unstated suggestion. In your final line above, you say that the problem is that today they can’t, and don’t. Do you mean can and don’t?
Frankly, as I stated earlier, I find the article’s notion of 40% not reading for pleasure to be ridiculous. That means 60% of the population reads for pleasure? I just can’t believe that.
My upbringing was Catholic, too. This was common terminology in our school and church.
I find it hard to believe that you could misunderstand the implication. And you’re right – I mean “can” and “don’t”.
But I find the notion that 40% don’t ever read for pleasure ludicrous, and more than 60% perfectly believable.
Anne – I don’t know why they confined it to books. The article goes on to assume they weren’t reading any forms at extended length. They seemed to contrast “books” with “internet snippets”.
It was a Sunday afternoon and I walked down to the living room of my fraternity house with a mystery novel in hand. I sat on the couch with 4 or 5 five other *college students * around me, watching TV. After a while one of them asked me what class I had that assigned popular fiction like I was reading. I said, “This isn’t for class, it’s just a book I’m reading.” They all kind of stared at me like I was an alien. I asked, “Don’t any of you read for pleasure?” Dead silence. Finally one guy says, “You mean, like, magazines?”
I was brought up to enjoy reading and it’s the best thing my parents ever did for me. I’m always surprised when I find people who don’t enjoy reading.