Nowadays, with so many ways to entertain yourself – with social media, idly scrolling through the news on our phones, or streaming shows – it may be easy to forget to read for fun. A NPR podcast episode titled, “Books vs. Brain Rot: Why It’s So Hard to Read,” from 2025 states that a Gallup survey from 2022 showed that Americans are reading fewer books per year than the year before. The podcast episode indicated this is a worrisome development because reading has significant benefits.
The podcast pointed out that a study from Duke University showed that when people used an AI tool to complete a reading task, they found these individuals’ reading comprehension declined by 12 percent. When we read something ourselves, we start thinking critically about what we’re reading. I think we can sometimes see this difference when we read an AI summary of an article versus reading the entire article. When you read the summary, you might get the highlights of what the article is about but to have a better understanding of the issues or the current event that’s being described, reading the entire article gives you a more comprehensive understanding.
The podcast also stated that reading allows us to imagine other people’s lives and in turn this allows us to imagine our own lives differently. Put another way, I think reading expands our knowledge and ability to think critically about our own lives and other societies and individuals. It’s an immersive activity that allows us to put ourselves in the shoes of another person. Also, by just mere words on a page we can be transported to a dystopian society or to another world entirely.
Even though there are benefits to reading, some people may feel they don’t have the time to read. One of the suggestions on the podcast was to just find a few minutes to read each day, for instance, for 15 minutes and not be focused on how many pages you read.
Also, some might find it difficult to read because they haven’t found the right book to read. For example, one time I wanted to read something that wasn’t very serious or dramatic but thought it would be challenging to find casual, fun books. However, I recently discovered there are several subgenres to fantasy books such as low fantasy or cozy fantasy that aren’t the typical high fantasy books most of us know about, such as The Lord of the Rings. There are subgenres for mysteries as well.
These are just some of the benefits we gain through reading books. Another article from Healthline listed even more benefits of reading books. Thus, despite all the digital distractions we might be surrounded by, I hope reading books will continue to be an important part of our lives. As we enjoy the summer season, I hope we take some time to pick up a book and not our phones.