The first signatory of the Ljubljana manifesto on the importance of reading long and complex texts, such as books, is Margaret Atwood, the creator of the acclaimed The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel that reveals a terrifying dystopian world precisely because the possibility of such an existence. What would you write about a world where humans have lost the ability to think critically and express themselves with nuance because one day they stopped reading books?
“We must understand this danger”, warned the co-author of the Ljubljana manifesto, Michael Kovac, who was at the Polytechnic of Catalonia yesterday, invited by UPCArts. In the text of the manifesto, prepared by professors and researchers philosophers and linguists and published in October, it is warned that society faces key transformations as technology advances. The latter is cornering the moments that were previously devoted to reading books.
“Reading takes time and now we don’t have it, everything happens very quickly”, justifies Martina Massana, 18 years old, data engineering student. She is part of the reading elite, like Xènia Mata, 19, from systems engineering and ICT in Manresa (UPC). “It is not easy to find calm. I search for a while and deactivate social networks, otherwise it’s impossible.”
For Kovac, long and complex texts require attention and intellectual patience. They force us to question ourselves and see other perspectives. If we don’t, we lose deep thinking and the ability to express ourselves. Can we acquire critical thinking with other activities than reading?, asked the philosopher. The studies analyzed so far indicate no. Only the exercise of reading feeds deep thinking.
The effects of not reading are general, but their impact is greater on the younger population in the process of training. In addition to little time or interest in reading, it shows (part of) a deficit in reading comprehension, as revealed by PISA. In December, the Royal Language Academy warned of the decline in reading. “Many young people are not able to put together the meaning of a text, summarize its fundamental ideas, distinguish them from accessories. Why is this not talked about? Not only do they not express themselves fluently or write in an agile and articulate manner, but they have a lot of difficulty understanding their meaning, and this did not exist a few years ago”, said academic Ignacio Bosque.
“The university cannot be absent from this debate”, said Daniel Crespo, chancellor of the UPC. This campus is activating the cultural offer for students and teachers and promoting the entry of art and humanism into technological careers. “Reading should be present in all disciplines and be a bridge between them all,” said Carme Fenoll, director of UPCArts, at yesterday’s event.
Former minister Joan Subirats also advocated for transdisciplinary learning because the challenges of the future are so complex that they will require mobilizing diverse knowledge. “AI will not be enough, you need to know what to ask it and this is increasingly complex”. He considered it important to read not only academic texts, but also literary ones, for the usefulness of “coincidences”. “Reading things you don’t get to read (like novels) incorporates the possibility of finding original solutions.”
Martina Massana has promoted the first European inter-university reading club, under the umbrella of the European alliance to which the UPC is integrated, Unite. Fifty students from technological universities in Finland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Poland have read La plaça del Diamant, by Mercè Rodoreda. “On Tuesday we had the first meeting, online, and it was exciting to hear what the others think”, smiles Xènia.
For Kovac, the decline will continue if it is not stopped. But he trusts that the authorities will wake up to this issue (the manifesto is running like wildfire in cultural and academic institutions) and start campaigns like they did in the past for smoking or sedentary lifestyles and now the physical routine has been normalized.
Montse Ayats, president of the National Reading Plan, also believes so. He believes that PISA has set off a social alarm regarding not only low reading comprehension, but also the decline in the reading habit. He explained that there is little data about the university (he recommended opening the libraries to a narrative offer) and reaffirmed that the habit is acquired at an early age, thanks to the school and the family. “But in order to read, you have to have read”, which is why, in his opinion, it is important to promote a humanist culture in teachers.
