Birkerts 'The Owl HasFlown' Summary

Birkerts addresses the issue of how reading has changed and the impact that that chnage has brought upon the way we think(Paragraph 4,5,and 6). He brings to attention the level of reading, the amount and concentration needed, of today compared with that of the 18th century and earlier. Before about 1750 reading material was so scarce that when it was available people needed to learn as much from it as they could, reading the same piece over and over. Back then a person might own own only a few things to read whereas now people own countless reading material. There was a need to understand reading when it was scarce; now that need is gone. Today we have so much to read in our grasp that we disregard most wihtout even a second glance. Our focus has been blurred by the amount of reading material at our disposal. Birkerts calls this change 'vertical to horizontal', which means that what we lack in depth is compensated by sheer volume; we know a little bit about alot of things. I assume that the purpose of this essay is to bring awareness to the possibility that how we learn and percieve information is actually degrading our ability to think. Basically our minds don't have to think because the answers are often given to us through some quicker way than figuring it out. I see it in myself all the time. If there is something I need to get or something I want if it would take along time i simply choose not too and nothing is really done. This way of thinking cannot soley be blamed on reading because it is in fact our entire culture that is changing, reading being just one of the signs. While we read we most often don't need to think. Why think about what you read when you know what you read?