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Hyper reading
Key words; Subjective, Superficial, Decontextualised, Attention, Compression
Interesting quotes:
Hyper reading correlates..with hyper attention, a low threshold for boredom, alternates flexibly between different information streams, and prefers a high level of stimulation. - Katherine Hayles
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“In most cases, however, experienced subtitlers are capable of producing translations that are of equal value to the original information and condensation will not lead to loss of information” - Cees Koolstra
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The human mind […] operates by association. With one item in its grasp, it snaps instantly to the next that is suggested by the association of ideas, in accordance with some intricate web of trails carried by the cells of the brain. The mind has other characteristics, of course: trails not frequently followed are apt to fade; few items are fully permanent; memory is transitory. Yet the speed of action, the intricacy of trails, the detail of mental pictures, is awe-inspiring beyond all else in nature. - Vannevar Bush
Commentry:
Hyper reading is a contentious topic in literary studies. The traditional institutions of literary studies have always promoted deep engagement with a text. Thorough reading and engagement accompanied by an unweaving of a text’s ideologies and styles so that they may be disseminated and put on trial, so to speak. Since the advent of computers, the sources of information have begun to shift from paper to screens and research is showing that our interactions with texts have changed as well. Not all critics view this new form of reading as a bad thing, George Landow’s Hypertext 3.0 offers many insights into the benefits of the new medium. The hyper reader is better able to discover and explore information when navigating hyperlinks than turning pages and is moving readers to non-linear thinking and the ability to “simulate processes of integration and contextualisation” (274). In How we think, Hayles suggests this change is perhaps not as beneficial as Landow may have thought. She points out “recent studies indicate that hyper reading not only requires different reading strategies than close reading but also may be involved with changes in brain architecture that makes close reading more difficult to achieve” (62). She cites Nicholas Carr as saying “hyper reading leads to changes in brain function that make sustained concentration more difficult”(62). The truth is that when we engage with texts on a computer or mobile device, we are only ever a few taps away from something else. If a passage appears particularly dry, we may be tempted to ‘just quickly’ check our e-mails, read the news, check Facebook or a million other forms of momentary distraction that take us away from the text.
Hyper reading is;
Is hyper reading really immersive?
Immersion is a process of intense interaction that takes place not just with the handling or manipulating of physical objects but with the deconstruction of abstract information. However, this level of focus has its toll, humans can only endure their immersions for so long before it becomes tiresome. Even the most thrilling activity if carried out in perpetuity would eventually succumb to being mundane. Katherine Hayles reminds us that boredom is one of the true enemies to immersion when she is contrasting close reading with hyper reading. Her description follows that "[close reading] correlates with deep attention, the cognitive mode traditionally associated with the humanities that prefers a single information stream, focuses on a single cultural object for a relatively long time, and has a high tolerance for boredom"(12). Some may argue that this process is more immersive, requiring greater mental effort and involving more critical reading skills. Yet, this is no reason to dispense with hyper reading as being less valuable on these accounts. Hyper reading, after all, takes more work, it is the ergodic path towards understanding. Hidden behind the ease of a search engine it the irresistibility of the 'new'. Drawing readers into an informational mirror stage as they recognise the wealth of information out there and their inability to, themselves, give it unity. So, hyper reading has born out of an acceptance that there is literally too much information, that a person can never unify his or her academic field within their own mind. What works instead is a curation of condensed ideas, summations. The quicker a subject can be grasped, even at the cost of quality (such as in the NPR article), the better. As soon as one finds enough content to draw an opinion they immediately register it and report it. Mapping out their connections to each subsequent reader.
The immersion of a hyper reader lies in the search. Hyper readers cannot simply observe one thing, they must transition; app to app, game to game, server to server. The hyper reader is a navigator, a 'wayfinder' on an ever-shifting sea of information and it takes all their focus to maintain their direction. It is too easy to allow ourselves a diversion and must retrace our steps back towards the metaphorical dentist's practice somewhere upon the road. It is the practise of mapping out the subject that immerses us, finding our destination through systematic exploration. The goal, our understanding, remains elusive, sending us from one adventure to the next like digital Argonauts. |
Issues of Hyper reading
As you may see from the posts blow, people are not as interested in weighing up the merits, validity and veracity of any particular article or curation. One could quite easily write a thousand facts that have no truth whatsoever but seem bizarre and find themselves a great success in today’s new form of journalism. Whether the article is good or bad does not affect the writer’s income when the whole industry is developed around clicks.
FACTS, FACTS, FACTS!!!
Just don't expect proof.
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However, just because we cannot find the unity of our informational world does not mean that each individual wayfinder should not be doing their part to map it out. To find pathways and avenues, straits and coordinates all to develop a better understanding of the map that traces the abstract kingdoms of knowledge. This form of immersion is not just for an individual, it is a collective mode of thinking created by the medium it most frequently interacts with.