There are people who browse without Adblock?
I suppose that they must exist, because of the random blank spots in some websites. Either that or whitespace is the new awful UX fad.
Too many things vie for for our visual attention, to be sure. Web pages can certainly encourage the behavior of paying too little attention. But there have always* been different forms of reading. When I pick up the newspaper every morning (yes, I still get dead tree), I scan for stories, and only read in-depth if I'm truly interested in the topic. But reading headlines and leads is still enough to keep me somewhat informed. Ars Technica, I read pretty much the same way. I only scan Slashdot because the summaries are a bit more clickbait than substance. The less useful the information, the less likely I am to read it well. (Corollary: avoid the HuffPo.)
But when I pick up a novel, I'm going to give it my full attention. Consciously, even. If I've gotten to that point where I start losing details, then it's time to go to sleep. Good fanfics get the same treatment. Technical articles and journals can require more than your full attention -- in which case you need to scan it, then read it and skip around, and then reread it again.
Reading is a skill, and like every skill it needs practice. So read more. Read or die. And if you're not happy with your reading, read it again until you are happy.
-- ∇×V
I suppose that they must exist, because of the random blank spots in some websites. Either that or whitespace is the new awful UX fad.
Too many things vie for for our visual attention, to be sure. Web pages can certainly encourage the behavior of paying too little attention. But there have always* been different forms of reading. When I pick up the newspaper every morning (yes, I still get dead tree), I scan for stories, and only read in-depth if I'm truly interested in the topic. But reading headlines and leads is still enough to keep me somewhat informed. Ars Technica, I read pretty much the same way. I only scan Slashdot because the summaries are a bit more clickbait than substance. The less useful the information, the less likely I am to read it well. (Corollary: avoid the HuffPo.)
But when I pick up a novel, I'm going to give it my full attention. Consciously, even. If I've gotten to that point where I start losing details, then it's time to go to sleep. Good fanfics get the same treatment. Technical articles and journals can require more than your full attention -- in which case you need to scan it, then read it and skip around, and then reread it again.
Reading is a skill, and like every skill it needs practice. So read more. Read or die. And if you're not happy with your reading, read it again until you are happy.
-- ∇×V