Why doesn’t everybody enjoy reading?

[Nebulous]

Why doesn't everybody enjoy reading?

What can be done to help people change their minds?

Is it something you need to grow up with? instill reading from day 1?

 

[Carlos]

People are just lazy.

I enjoy reading stuff online. I love forums for this reason, but people are just fucking LAZY.

 

[Oblivion Knight]

I've never particularly enjoyed reading.. I can probably count on two hands how many books I've actually read to completion, excluding reading children's books for my 5-year old daughter.

My argument has always been Why spend the time reading a book when I can be shown or interact with a story through films or games?

 

[jamesyfx]

I'm too impatient when reading. I basically just scan-read books and then if something piques my interest especially, I'll go back and read that section more thoroughly.

 

[PGen98]

I was an avid reader for a long time, especially Tolkien's books, but lately I've grown wary of reading and my eyes are getting worse, so reading isn't as fun. I hope to fix that again when I get some free time (hah, free time), but I still enjoy reading articles on websites and such. Just not books these days.

 

[apathy]

I like reading but my attention span doesn't really allow for it, I just end up reading them line-by-line rather than taking in the overall narration if that makes sense. Ultimately I just never know whats going on so its kinda a waste of my time lol

 

[EvilResource]

People are just lazy.

I enjoy reading stuff online. I love forums for this reason, but people are just fucking LAZY.

Quite a blanket statement. Laziness isn't necessarily always the factor when it comes to the reason behind the unwillingness to read, in fact I'd go as far to say that in most cases there are alternative reasons, as evidenced by people's responses so far.

I was never much of a reader growing up, nor am I now. And it's not because I was lazy, far from it. I personally find it difficult to focus on reading for leisure, and to me social media and forums don't qualify as reading, at least not in the context OP meant (apologies @Nebulous if I'm speaking out of turn here). I found if I sat down to read a book, quite quickly my brain would rebel and urge me to do something more productive with my time. Same with watching television, I find it hard to just sit and relax. Of course I will succeed in these things if it's something I'm heavily invested in for educational or passionate purposes, but reading/watching for leisure is not something I have trained myself for very successfully.

But that's not to say that I don't read full stop. I am an avid Tolkien fan and I absorbed all of his lore at a relatively young age. I much prefer to read fiction and fantasy than factual books, I like to get lost in the world that someone else has invented. But my job also requires a lot of research and training of new technologies, something that falls into the category of the aforementioned "passion" I have.

 

[Aerodynamic]

I've never particularly enjoyed reading.. I can probably count on two hands how many books I've actually read to completion, excluding reading children's books for my 5-year old daughter.

My argument has always been Why spend the time reading a book when I can be shown or interact with a story through films or games?

This is exactly me.

Grown up books? no.
Children books? yes.

 

[Uncrowned Guard]

I got more into reading as an adult. It started by gaining access to an e-reader and involved manga more than books, but it keeps getting more into books. So it is hard to say if it is due to getting older or more likely from not having e-readers as a kid and manga being way too expensive to buy.

 

[Oblivion Knight]

I keep thinking about trying an e-reader, but I currently don't read enough to justify the purchase..

Vicious circle