Evan: Books feel like they’re in constant competition with so many other sources of information now. Books are still very much here, but they aren’t alone. There is an information explosion clearly fueled by the internet. Information has not only grown in size but also in resources. It seems like how people are getting their information is shifting. Why are books important in this age of social media and information?
Nathan: I think they’re important because of the impact social media has had on the information we get these days. You go on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or whatever platform, and you’ll see a little link from a website, someone’s page, or a company. Oftentimes, you’ll just see a little tidbit of information or a headline. People see a headline and they react. It’s almost like instant gratification with information nowadays. The way information is being peddled to us is in small tidbits; we don’t see the whole story.
I’m not going to lie—I’m one of those people who wakes up in the morning, grabs my phone, and wants a quick dosage of what’s going on in the world. I read the headlines, and boom, I’m set. I’m definitely not knocking it because I do it too. Who doesn’t go on their phone to look at Facebook and Google? We always want to know what’s new, what’s ticking, and what’s hot. We do our little 20 or 30-second peruse and go back to what we were doing. There’s nothing wrong with that if you’re just looking for a fast update on what’s cooking today.
But if you’re trying to actually learn about something or form an opinion, I advise against just looking at a title and reacting. A lot of people see a headline and react without taking the time to stop and think. What are the facts of the situation? Where’s the proof? Is the information factual, credible, and real? I’m not saying people have to do that every time they pick up their phone, but if you’re trying to drill down into a particular topic, take the time to dig deeper.
That’s why books are such an important part of that process. Books help us to dig deeper into a topic, learn the fundamentals, and understand the intricate workings of how something came to be. You only get that knowledge from a book; you don’t get it from a two-second title on Facebook from a news source.
Evan: Is there no time left in the day? Is this all the time people have? Was there a time when we actually had time to read books?
Nathan: I think it’s about making the time; that’s a huge thing these days. If you really want to make time to do something, you can find the time. There are 24 hours in a day, and most of us are awake for 16, 17, or 18 hours. Maybe it’s a combination of both—some of us are lazy, or it’s just convenient to pick up a phone. You’re right, but just because it’s convenient doesn’t make it credible.
Evan: No, and you’re onto something. Just because it’s a headline doesn’t mean it tells the whole story. But it’s tough. Maybe we have just become busier. We become busy, we want things to be convenient and quick, and we don’t want to think about or explore it. We just want information to be served up to us. All of us are guilty of it to a degree. We like for things to be easy, simple, and convenient nowadays, but not everybody stops to actually think about something.
Another thing I noticed is that a phone is easier to carry around than a physical book. It’s a convenience of time, but also a convenience of space. But we did just fine many years ago before the internet existed when we carried books around.
Nathan: 100%. We all remember going to school with a heavy backpack full of our textbooks. But you can find ways around it. We don’t like being inconvenienced; we want to do things that play into our daily schedule. Reading a book doesn’t mean you necessarily have to carry around a physical copy. You can put e-books on your phone by downloading the Kindle app and cracking an e-book open. Obviously, you can’t pull out a physical book while you’re driving to work in the morning, but you can listen to an audiobook. There are lots of audiobooks online. It doesn’t have to be inconvenient; you just have to figure out ways of building it into your daily schedule.
Evan: Here are my thoughts on why I think books are ultimately important, and it touches on what you’ve said. I’ve always viewed all these blogs, statuses, and websites out there as fast food for information. Will you get a quick meal from a blog post? Yes, you will. It’s quick and fast. Is it the most fulfilling or nutritious source of information? Maybe not.
The one reason why books will always be important to me is that you have an author who has sometimes spent multiple years on it. It’s quick and easy for someone to whip up a blog post in 20 minutes, type it, boom, and send it. That’s the fast-food part of it. But a book feels like a steak dinner. Someone took the time to really prepare it well over multiple years and had to do thorough research. Not to mention grammar and spelling mistakes, which I still see on articles to this day. We move so quickly that we don’t have time to check our sources. It’s impressive how fast people can whip up good articles, but if you want a really good meal of information, that’s why personally I find books to be the most important.
