I think we all might be due for some assigned reading.
I know, I know. The class can all stop groaning now.
Let me explain. Wyndi and I have been joining the Crimes and Clues Book Club that meets the fourth Friday at 6 p.m. at the Dublin Public Library. I’d be lying if I said we enjoyed every selection. In fact, I don’t think there’s been a book that every member of the group has enjoyed at the same time yet.
While Wyndi and I were taking turns reading chapters from the current selection (“In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote) she said, “I thought I was done with assigned reading!”
Thinking back, college was the last time that either of us really had to deal with books that didn’t initially capture our interest.
I don’t mean to boast, but I am an expert at starting books. While some readers might pick up one book in an evening and continue reading several chapters before placing a bookmark in it, I will grab a whole stack of books, read the first chapter out of three or four of them until one of them mentions a subject I didn’t know or forgot.
Then I grab my phone and search for information on that subject, spending the next hour or so finding what I can about it then checking my email and playing a game or surfing the internet. I usually go back to finish one of those books but I give myself options when I sit back down with it.
This reading pattern is ridiculous, I know. It’s how the internet has trained our brains though. Our house has no less than six subscriptions to streaming services. Each of them has thousands of choices in TV shows and movies to watch. That sounds great until you start looking for something to watch. Somehow, you’re greeted with 300 things you didn’t know existed every time.
If two of you are deciding what to watch, one of you better have some confidence and state an opinion or you will be staring at that menu for an hour before you drift back to the first thing you saw or watch something you’ve seen multiple times and know you like.
The sad thing is you likely didn’t even see everything that’s been added. Every little thing about your habits has been logged whether it’s a title you’ve rated high, shows you stopped early or genres you avoid altogether.
So the service only shows you things it ‘thinks’ you’ll like. If you want something unfamiliar you’ve never heard of, you’ll…. have to search for it.
Netflix presents options this way.SodoesHulu,Paramount and Peacock.
So does Facebook as it uses your geography, how fast you scroll past items, the posts you engage with and items you share to determine what you need to see. If you haven’t seen a post from Aunt Bertha in a while, it might be because Facebook has determined you and Aunt Bertha are very different people and should be separate. You’ll have to search if she’s been posting.
Internet browsers also do this. If you don’t set a main page, you might end up with a wall of news stories based on your geography and browsing habits that the company thinks will resonate with you. Also there will be some sponsored content.
If it seems like all your movies and shows are the same, it’s because your service has decided that’s all you like. If everybody on the internet seems to be saying the same thing, it’s because companies have decided that’s all you care about.
If we don’t venture past the familiar, it can be easy to ignore or forget about other viewpoints. We could miss important information or events because we haven’t been looking at things like that.
It’s hard to learn much without new information and we can be missing something vital.
So I invite everyone to look into a local book club and read something they’d never regularly pick up or pay attention when someone’s talking about something you’ve never heard of. If it interests you, search it up on Facebook or the internet. Get it added to the feed.
The forest is big and we’re often stuck staring at the same tree.
— Paul Gaudette is the managing editor for the Dublin Citizen and can be reached via email at publisher@dublincitizen.com.