How important is reading of books in todays world?

[BitcoinBarrel]

If you like to read, eventually you will get tired of looking at a screen all day.

Reading a physical book is much more relaxing, and takes your mind of all the distractions of the world.

[Accardo]

actually the OP said how the internet

mostly gives a shallow information compared to what's compiled in books.

yet its actually books that are filled with one sided stories and fantasy, yet the internet is a resource to get many sources and then form the opinion/judgement based on what seems most accurate/realistic

even the bible(worlds oldest/infamous book) has many inaccuracies in it and leads people into believing in things that cause problems

..
the problem is not the lack of reading of books, its lack of creative thinking, critical thinking when reading, listening, watching, researching
its this lack of creative/critical thinking that leads to lack of desire to read

The internet is here to support research and help learning, not to affect the way people read books in recent times. When reading books, there are some terms and citations readers understand better when looked up on google. But, with all its resources, this generation chose the entertaining part of the internet. Before now, people read lots of books, I could remember the "readers digest" type of book with lots of stories in it, I hardly could see it now.

Two years ago, I asked a medical student how they study, she said they're required to read and learn from a lot of resources: Youtube, blogs, books, written materials etc. So, with the internet, readers have an added value to what they learn. Do not forget, OP, that when people only learnt through books that some people focused on reading magazines of hot celebrities which is just similar to what social media users are doing with the internet.

[Hewlet]

If you like to read, eventually you will get tired of looking at a screen all day.

Reading a physical book is much more relaxing, and takes your mind of all the distractions of the world.

True. The idea of reading E copy of most books using our mobile device also disconnects us from the natural way of grasping information. When it comes to getting quick information the internet makes getting it fast and helps you do a quick comparison through other sources to get additional details about what you're reading on. On that aspect, sourcing information on the net appears to be better than mere reading of books because at the end of the day, what you're after is that you've cleared your doubt and have learnt something new. Other than that, when it comes to reading for pleasure and relaxation purposes, reading books disconnect you from the rays of mobile device and gives you a natural understanding of the subject you're studying.

While I was in college studying engineering, most of our books on thermodynamics, theory of machines, fluid mechanics etc, where available on PDF since the original copy was expensive to buy for the average college student. Reading the PDF through my mobile phone was a hectic thing for me because of the discomfort in flipping through pages. I enjoy reading the hard copy that's available in the school library and that gives far more details than the PDF copy and even the one I get from YouTube. YouTube is only better after you've read the hardcopy and still want to know how another person explains that particular concept. Apart from professional books, this also happens with the regular journals.

[Majestic-milf]

 Reading is therapeutic. It helps you relax and forget about things that make one unnecessarily worry. Don't know if I'm the only one this happens to but when I pick a book to read, I may decide to go a few pages so I can finish up something else but get so engrossed in the pages that I miss out the time set for the next task.
 Now that it's hard to find books in hardcover thanks to the proliferation of online books and all that, it takes away the suspense and thrill I often experience when I finish a book and get to wait for another series of it simply because I can now easily search for it (if it's available).

[Scarlett_23]

"Generation Z" is ethnically diverse. Those born between 1997 and 2012 are generally known as "Generation Jet". They were basically born in the age of internet and information technology, meaning they grew up with technology in their hands from birth. Today even an 8-10 year old child can understand the functions  It can be said that people born in the 90s are a little behind. They can learn about any subject in an instant.

Books are a storehouse of knowledge  On the other hand, it is in the hands of people. It is  possible to know by reading books. A book enriches people's knowledge. There is a lack of patience in this generation.

[Leadersquada]

And what books are you talking about? Which authors? I didn't quite get it. They began to read less, I agree here.

[Yablee0]

Yes! Reading of books is very very essential to humanity. Constant reading of books can develop your mindset, educate you on new ideas, is also a means of research methodology.
It is also important to know that reading of books is a very easy means of acquiring knowledge and information.
Therefore, it is fundamental for everyone to read books because it is very important and profitable .

[Cgrexp]

A similar trait i have found with my Gen Z is that a lot of them hardly read abstract books that's not related to their area of specialty. its no longer like what was the case with most of our parents that read books on leadership, public speaking, studied the lifestyle of so many alpha personality in different fields and filled up their library with books from different areas of life. those books gave them in-debt knowledge on diverse areas.

my generation do more of YouTube and get additional aids through AI or chatGPT which mostly gives a shallow information compared to what's compiled in books.
            has the shift in the mode of getting knowledge and information affected how exposed this generation is to undaunted information?
            whats the effect of the decline in the reading culture among most youth?

The present age is mainly the age of technology and nowadays people depend on technology for almost all activities. There are various digital platforms where people can easily get any question and solution easily and that's why I think the youth is losing interest in reading culture. But it will reduce the thinking power, attention, analytical power of the youth. Again, digital media is capable of solving problems in a short time, so we should keep in harmony with both digital media and textual culture.

[Gentle_Soul]

A similar trait i have found with my Gen Z is that a lot of them hardly read abstract books that's not related to their area of specialty. its no longer like what was the case with most of our parents that read books on leadership, public speaking, studied the lifestyle of so many alpha personality in different fields and filled up their library with books from different areas of life. those books gave them in-debt knowledge on diverse areas.

my generation do more of YouTube and get additional aids through AI or chatGPT which mostly gives a shallow information compared to what's compiled in books.
            has the shift in the mode of getting knowledge and information affected how exposed this generation is to undaunted information?
            whats the effect of the decline in the reading culture among most youth?

Truthfully speaking the 21st century generation do not really give focus to some fundamental principles documented in books that are channeled to enhancing an educative environment for the younger generation, this 21st century generation are jumping the basic informations they need to go through life and rather going for the outcome of it which is what follows it .
When you prepare and equip yourself for the future definitely you will get the reward that comes along so people focus on the reward which is money and instead of under going the process they jump into money making, hence the reason we have rise in crime rates and ritualist and fraudsters on the high side in the society

[Blueswiss]

Personal researches has thought me that reading of books are instrumental to the level of our productivity as it enhances the mental horizon of the reader.
The most interesting part of reading books written by great authors is that it creates an ambience were knowledge is seen as a powerful tool for global emancipation from mental slavery.

[coolcoinz]

reading is essential... but books? have you never heard of kindle

the breadth of information is far more accessible and vast in the digital age, google has more information than an encyclopaedia

Kindle is books, just in digital form. I think that OP meant reading as a process, instead of browsing for information, which is what kids are used to these days.

There's a huge difference between reading a book and watching a movie. I remember a few that I read after watching the movie or a series and they wouldn't bore me. I knew the story from the movie, but still found a lot of interesting details and side stories in the book. I could compare how characters were depicted and all that.
Make sure your kids read something, even if it's comic books. It develops the brain in a different way by allowing kids to imagine. It improves their dreams and the way they see the world, especially when they're alone in nature. It also makes them stronger mentally. Able to cope with silence and believe me, many kids go crazy when they're deprived of external stimuli for a few hours.

[knowngunman]

Op sorry to say but what's your center of focus here? Is reading books specifically your concern or reading in general?

If you're concern about reading books to be specific, I must admit that it has drastically reduced but that doesn't mean the present generations are not readers. We have to realise that technology has transformed and advanced in every sectors including the area of acquiring knowledge. A good example is this very platform we are engaging ourselves on a daily basis. You don't need books to be a reader here. Our schools don't longer give bulky handouts to students anymore, the newspaper publication organisations have reduced massive production of daily papers. They now upload daily reports to their respective websites and print few copies while our schools now compile PDF for students to read.

You can virtually find every paper of your interest online nowadays. Quite alright, we can not deny the fact that this generation is too addicted to social medias but I think the narrative is applaudable one. The coming of AI, YouTube and any other things you can think of are here to make things easier for us instead of going in the old traditional ways. Let embrace the new technology, there is nothing wrong in the use of modern tools to aid learning.

[Rockstarguy]

Not just reading  book bit making reading as habit is very good. If you talk about reading books , there are some people who normally reads book but the kind of books they read it about a particular field and they may see some other books not interesting. But when people takes reading to be their habit everything readable,  books , things online,  research will always be so interesting to read. Reading is very important because the more you read is the more you will know better. But when one is in love in reading a book on a particular subject it is very noticeable such person will know nothing when other things are been discussed.

[Emeraldo]

In today's world we have seen that technology is actually taking over everything. People no longer spend quality time on reading because digital medias provide solutions to problems. Even with the emergence of this technologies , reading of books is very crucial.
Reading of books help broaden one's knowledge and give deeper understanding.  Reading books also help in creating new ideas on how to provide solutions to problem.

[Rabata]

my generation do more of YouTube and get additional aids through AI or chatGPT which mostly gives a shallow information compared to what's compiled in books.
            has the shift in the mode of getting knowledge and information affected how exposed this generation is to undaunted information?
            whats the effect of the decline in the reading culture among most youth?

It is not difficult to say that people's interest in reading books is decreasing in recent times. Earlier, people used to read books most of the time and gain in-depth knowledge about various subjects, but nowadays it is doing the complete opposite. People have now become more interested in online than books. After the arrival of Youtube or ChatGGP, they have narrowed that time even more. They are limited to only what is necessary, which is why they are gradually moving away from acquiring sufficient knowledge. There is a lot of debate about how much people will progress with such knowledge. There should be a difference between the behavior of an AI and the behavior of a human being. There should be emotions among people. A negative effect of staying away from reading books will definitely be visible.