That's it. I'm giving up. That's all is needed to deal a deathblow to reading. Just when we thought it couldn't get worse ... grumble ... grumble ... grumble.Or so will say some. But on the other hand we are not going to let a few facts get in the way, are we? We are book fanatics, we love books, we breath books, and we have them for breakfast lunch and dinner. We read to our pets, for goodness sake. We live on fantasy island.
According to a report in The Telegraph, neuroscientists say that, 'The internet beats books for improving the mature mind.' And that 'Browsing the internet is better than reading books for boosting the brain power of middle-aged and older adults, new research has found.'
Phew. It only helps older adults. The report adds, 'Scientists discovered that searching the world wide web exercised the mind far more than reading and was similar to completing crosswords and puzzles. Brain scans showed that going online stimulated larger parts of the brain than the relatively passive activity of reading a novel or non-fiction book. It was so stimulating that the authors of the study believe it could actually help people maintain healthier brains into their old age.'
I can agree with that. My mum is in her mid-seventies. She took up the internet recently. She has, so far, published at least three books on the computer using a page-layout and Tamil software, she plays checkers online with absolute strangers from all over the world, reads magazines, chats, Skypes, emails and, downloads and listens to music. But I am not sure if her mind is sharp because she does these things or she does these things because her mind is sharp.
She also reads hell of a lot. Always has.
The Telegraph
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