“My undergrads struggle to read – I think I know why”

The vast majority of people are social and pragmatic, reading is solitary and not practical. I was in my well into my teens before I met other readers who read books of the ilk that I read and even then we might have a few books a year we all have read and can discuss, it is largely a solitary endeavor. I grew up with the internet and TV and BBSes and so did my friends who are readers, we still read. If I am to believe articles like this I also have to believe that we are all exceptional people who ultimately fail to meet up to our exceptionalism which I find unlikely but perhaps I am just validating my own failures.

Even in this connected world it is impossible to find people who have read much the same stuff I have, at best a couple dozen books and most of those will have been read so long ago they can not be discussed on any worthwhile level, that is not enough to sustain any sort of relationship through a shared passion for reading. Few people want to put dozens of hours into something they can not share with the people they know and that is a requirement of reading unless you want to read only what is popular and ignore your own interests. Cooking, programming, woodworking, music, art, most if not all other hobbies result in something that is easy to share with the people in your life even if they are across the world, you can share a recipe or a photo or a recording or a plan. With reading you read the book then put it on the shelf and maybe a few times in your lifetime you will get to discuss it with someone.

At least 90% of the books I have read I have never discussed with anyone beyond a superficial level, the equivalent of the back page blurb. Thousands of hours of my life I will never be able to share with anyone. Reading is unlikely ever to become a popular past time among a species who largely wants to share even their sleeping time with someone else.