Just a Gwai Lo

Hugh McGuire, linking to Steph (Dandruff) about reading books compared to reading online materials (which I've quoted and discussed): “Some of the problem is also the insidious effects of too much online reading. For everything Dandruff has to say about reading a real paper & ink book, the opposite is true of the internet… the mind becomes accustomed to skimming not for the detail, but for the general, and once the gist is gotten, more info (from elsewhere) is sought — I often don’t even read whole short blog posts, once I get the drift I’m done, and then it’s onto the next link. This lack of ability to pay attention to detail is deadly, and pervasive.”