The Age of Reading Is Over: America's Shift to a Postliterate Society

The Age of Reading Is Over

Drawing parallels to the Library of Alexandria's slow decline, I argue that America is entering a postliterate age where deep reading is vanishing. While we consume more text fragments than ever, our ability to synthesize complex ideas is collapsing. From falling test scores to students using ChatGPT to simplify classics, the shift from sustained attention to digital noise threatens our collective intellectual depth.

"America, in other words, isn't illiterate. It's postliterate."