Jonah Lehrer: The Future Of Reading

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/the-future-of-reading-2/

by cwan • 16 years ago

4 1 16 years ago

trimber• 16 years ago

I'm not familiar with the research cited in the article, however it seems the author is making some inconsistent points refering to it.

He says there are two different ways of reading(ventral route and dorsal stream) and that the latter way is preferable because it is more conscious of the actual text being read. When reading on digital devices he worries that we will only be reading through the ventral route, because the clear display quality will make it so easy for us the read the letters and words.

Now, there is a few things I'm wondering about: In practice, do we actually ever read through the dorsal stream? In the research experiments quoted, this was archived through rotating letters or errant punctuation, both of which we do not usually encounter in actual books.

The author also mentions the dorsal stream being activated because of an obscure word, or an awkard subclause. This seems more like the thing that would in practice cause us to use the dorsal stream. Is the dorsal stream active in cases of difficult texts, e.g. scientific papers?

If that is so, then it seems to me that it is not so much a question of wether you read on a digital device with great display quality or a simple book, but instead it seems to be of much greater importance what it is that you are reading. A Dan Brown book, would probably only activate the ventral route on both mediums, whereas the newest P[!|=]=NP proof would probably always activate the dorsal stream. Is my understanding of the ventral route and dorsal stream correct?

Jonah Lehrer: The Future Of Reading

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