TV: More important than reading?

Sometimes it feels as if society's intellectual development, historically increasing with the centuries, has reversed and we are just getting dumber. Turns out there may be truth to it: Americans spend almost three times more hours watching TV than we do reading. Add computer/Web time (for entertainment, not learning or work) and it's four times more.

A quick consideration of the average vocabulary, whether spoken or written in a bestselling novel, as compared with those of a half century before reveals a disturbing contrast.

The world's top readers by volume, in India, still spend twice the amount of time (each) on TV and computerized entertainment. This according to the latest figures from NOP World's Culture Index, a research project involving interviews of more than 30,000 adults and teens in 30 countries. The U.S. ranks 23rd in reading time, behind nine countries in Asia, six in Europe, two each in the Middle/Near East and South America, one in Africa, as well as Australia and Canada.

The U.S. ranks sixth in TV, and 18th in non-work related computer time. Thailand is rather interesting; it ranks either first or second in all three categories. Globally, the self-reported weekly averages are 16.6 hours for TV, 6.5 for reading, and 8.9 for non-work computer time.

The U.S. and U.K. are both below average for reading (5.7 and 5.3 hours per week, respectively) and above average for TV viewing (19 and 18 hours per week). Both are only slightly below average for recreational computer usage (8.8 for both nations). Mexicans, Italians, and Germans spend the least time on the computer.

The research also measured radio listening time - still a major pastime in many nations. The global weekly average is 8.8 hours, with Argentina leading the pack at 20.8 hours, and China at the bottom with 2.1 hours. Americans still spend 10.2 hours weekly listening to the radio.

Who watches the least TV? People in Mexico, at 11.6 hours, followed by Venezuelans at 11.9 and Swedes at 12.6. Americans spend an average 19 hours watching TV each week.

Those newspaper-loving (as reported in unrelated articles) populations in India read 10.7 hours per week. Americans spend 5.7 hours. The research results did not differentiate between types of materials read. Those who read the least included Korea (3.1 hours) and Japan (4.1).

Is any of this related to reading proficiency? That's a complicated question. According to a 2011 Harvard study, children in the U.S. rank 17th worldwide in reading skills, behind several nations in Asia and a few in Western Europe.

Reading isn't just about gaining valuable facts; it's also about life lessons, without the necessity of actually experiencing them all the hard way. I can't imagine who I would have been without each story I've read - fiction and nonfiction. Certainly less equipped, less compassionate, less knowing (with so much more to go) and with fewer lenses to see all life has to offer. Life is somehow richer with each reading experience.

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." - Award-winning novelist George Raymond Martin.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at [email protected].