Why do we still “read” books? , “swiping” the screen is so convenient
April 23rd is World Book Day. At this time, discussions related to reading are always hot. Recently, some scholars have asked "Why do libraries exist in the world?" This has not only caused people to explore the essence of the functions of libraries in the new era, but also awakened us once again to think deeply about how to read and where to read.
From "reading" with both hands to "swiping" the screen with the fingertips, from studying thousands of books in the past with "hanging the head on the beam and stabbing the buttocks" to now "swiping" thousands of screens in seconds while lying on the side or back, technological revolution and progress are giving While reading brings great convenience and higher efficiency, it is also gradually changing our reading habits, which in turn profoundly affects changes in lifestyles and values.
As a social institution, a library exists to “collect books” and its essential function is to promote social reading and meet people’s spiritual needs. In the old society, books were not common, and collecting and reading books was a matter for a few "upper-class people." However, as times have changed, books, information, and knowledge are readily available, so the question "Why are there libraries in the world?" The implicit logic is: now that it is so convenient to obtain information and knowledge, and "swipe" the screen so fast, why do we still have to "work hard" to go to the library?
In fact, "reading" books and "swiping" screens meet different groups and needs. The former are mainly people who need the static space of the library to seek spiritual comfort or do "intensive farming", while the latter are mainly people who browse quickly and obtain information in mobile spaces such as buses, subways, and airplanes. The two are not either/or. Relationship.
The general feeling that "swiping" the screen brings to us is that whether it is academic or life-oriented, whether it is text, pictures, or audio and video, it seems that whatever you "like" will be what it recommends, and you "stay" The longer the time, the more relevant content it will recommend to you in the next second, always giving us the feeling of "just what we want". It is undeniable that this provides convenience for us to obtain certain knowledge, certain types of knowledge and related "peripheral" knowledge, and has positive significance for expanding the "radius" and "concentric circles" of knowledge. However, although fragmented and fragmented texts, pictures, audio and video can inspire the mind and thinking, they are not as good as the systematic discussion of the content of "books". When we read, we need to read extensively and expand our knowledge, and we need to read intensively and do in-depth research. These are two aspects of the same problem, and they are also caused by different needs.
Currently, we are accelerating the cultivation and development of new productive forces. The revolutionary breakthroughs in technology, the innovative allocation of production factors, and the in-depth transformation and upgrading of industries required for new productivity all rely on human knowledge, wisdom and creativity, as well as their combination and chemical reactions. With the rapid development of general artificial intelligence, especially AIGC recently represented by Sora, it has continued to break through human creativity and formed a "race" situation with the human brain. While making an impact, generative artificial intelligence is also "urging" humans to improve their creativity. Therefore, vigorously improving human creativity has become a new era proposition and is also the key and foundation for the development of new qualitative productivity.
Whether it is cultivating and strengthening emerging industries, planning ahead to build future industries, or using new technologies to transform and upgrade traditional industries; whether it is advanced manufacturing or artificial intelligence, it requires the cultivation and development of innovative culture and the improvement of workers' imagination and creativity. Culture is the source and cornerstone of creativity, and cultural creativity is the basic ability of workers that distinguishes them from computers. Fundamentally speaking, "reading" books and "swiping" screens are all for the purpose of creating knowledge and promoting the spiral of knowledge, thereby enhancing people's cultural creativity.
Now, the rapid development of carriers and technologies such as mobile phones, tablet computers and even helmet-mounted video glasses has accelerated the arrival of the era of "swiping" screens, thus improving the efficiency of "reading" books. Human reading behavior is being redefined. Therefore, the key to the problem is not whether we still need libraries, but how libraries can embrace new technologies so that people are not only willing to "swipe" the screen but also know how to "read" books, thereby meeting people's multi-level needs for reading. We must not only fully enjoy the "dividends" brought to us by technology and promote the improvement of living standards and the development of social production, but we must also prevent addiction to "swiping" screens and avoid the adverse factors and harms caused by technology.
Scholars have the wisdom and creation of scholars. Technology only extends human hands and brains, assisting in transforming the creativity of the human brain into efficiency and serving human society. It is not an either/or "replacement" relationship. From this perspective, technology continues to “urge” human progress and promote human-machine collaboration. The future will be an era of “human-machine co-reading”.
