Before the internet arrived at my home, I used to read a fair amount of books - maybe about ten every year - but that fell by the wayside, even after I bought an e-ink tablet specifically for the purpose.

However, I do a lot more of writing than I used to, in these threads as well as messaging friends and family, long chains of text bubbles about whatever's on my mind.

Also, thanks to some truly excellent YouTube channels - both from content creators and university lectures - I now understand things like cosmology and physics, math and ancient history, so much better than I used to, better than with any book I ever came across, and it is an exhilarating feeling. To the point that I now prefer binging on knowledge content than watching movies or television series.

To watch someone who has a way with words get carried away with excitement for an hour or two while describing things like the Michelson-Morley experiment, or the Stern-Gerlach experiment, Feynman diagrams and Penrose diagrams, makes me feel like something about society that used to be remote and flat and black & white, suddenly exploded into 3D and glorious technicolor.

I find that changing my environment helps me focus. I can’t zero in within my home, but if I go to a park away from distractions, my focus is much better. To a lesser degree, the same is true on my balcony. Makes a big difference.

Dont y'all read on your phones?

Commuting by train got me back into reading.

Counter argument: Books have become less interesting over time.

Nowadays, everyone writes a book. Average quality goes down.