Gen Z Can Fight Digital 'Brain Rot' Through the Lost Art of Reading Books
In high school, I admitted myself into a self-prescribed phone rehab. My smartphone addiction had stripped away my ability to focus, sit in silence, or engage deeply with meaningful content. The solution was simple but challenging: I turned off notifications, deleted social media, and kept my phone out of reach for an entire year.
Initially faced with boredom during COVID-19 lockdowns, I discovered books. Starting with Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography, I found something transformative. Books didn't just fill time – they opened new worlds and challenged my thinking in ways scrolling never could.
Reading demanded focus and patience, quite different from the quick-fix dopamine hits of social media. While my phone had trained me to skim content, books taught me to wrestle with complex ideas and find deeper meaning.
This experience is becoming increasingly rare among Gen Z. Recent studies show alarming trends: In 1976, 40% of high school seniors read six or more books yearly for pleasure. By 2021, this dropped to just 13%. Even more concerning, those who didn't read any books jumped from 11.5% to 41%.
In 2024, Oxford's Word of the Year was "brain rot" – perfectly capturing how endless scrolling dulls critical thinking. But instead of accepting this decline, Gen Z has an opportunity to be different. We can be builders in a culture of consumers.
History's greatest builders were readers. Aristotle studied Plato. Jefferson read Locke. Christian leaders like C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., and Pascal all built their worldviews through extensive reading.
Books offer unique benefits:
- They help navigate complex social issues
- Develop critical thinking skills
- Foster empathy and understanding
- Provide deeper context for current events
- Challenge existing perspectives
In a world of quick takes and viral soundbites, we need the depth that reading brings. Books offer wisdom that builds, while phones offer slogans that sell. As Gen Z Christians, we have the opportunity to reclaim vision and depth in an increasingly surface-level world.
Gospel Fluency book cover design
Great books help us understand ourselves and others better, offering insights that can't be reduced to a tweet. Whether it's "The Brothers Karamazov" exploring human nature or "Letter from Birmingham Jail" challenging our views on justice, books provide the foundation for meaningful cultural engagement and personal growth.
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