I came across an interesting article, again at Inside Higher Ed, entitled "Blind, Deaf and Dumb." I read the beginning with great interest. I also feel that too much of our lives is sped up too much, and that this also applies to higher education, something I've touched on before (see Research: taking the time to read thoroughly). Students often have little time to truly engage with their reading materials, to read deliberately, thoroughly, and widely. They often feel compelled, when doing research for a research paper, for example, to use tables of contents and indices to find only what they feel is immediately relevant to their argument. This obviously leaves them open to taking things out of context. It also makes for an impoverished reading and learning experience.
I think I understand what Musgrove was getting at when discussing certain students' inability to relate to the text--to see, hear and speak about the text meaningfully. But that is, I think, little different from the blank stare and incoherent stammer exhibited by some (generally older) people when confronted with a computer, cellphone, or iPod. It has to do with familiarity and literacy. His choice of words were, however, rather unfortunate.
Though I also have a certain attachment to the physical book, I think we must be open to new media. The book was, just a few hundred years ago, a new medium. What we need to do is to continue tinkering with the medium to make it as useful as we can (the use of electronic paper helps), and make enough use of it to forget the medium and engage the text. Who gives any thought to the physical book when truly engrossed in the text?
