Social media has not destroyed attention spans; it has exposed our dissatisfaction with what we consume. The real problem is repeatedly returning to content we already know is empty instead of respecting our own intelligence. Books are only one medium for knowledge, not knowledge itself. What truly matters is reclaiming attention from distractions, demolishing the borrowed mental structures imposed by society, and creating an inner space where meaningful learning, reflection, and self-knowledge can flourish.
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Questioner: Acharya Ji, in the age of cutting-edge technology, with the seamless penetration of the internet, started with so many platforms, particularly social media platforms, somewhere down the line dropping the attention span as well as distorting an age-old habit of reading. So, being a scholar who has to dole himself to books most of the time, I see around me people who have the advantage, unlike a large scale of the audience who could not even go to the bookshop and buy a book.
How can we rebuild that culture of reading again? And one more question, adding to that, how have you been impacted by reading, and in making you whatever you are today, what has been the role of reading? Thank you.
Acharya Prashant: When you're talking of shortening attention spans, do you know what that actually means? That means whatever is coming in front of the eyes of the mind is not something the self is actually looking for. Therefore, you quickly scroll away. What is needed is the dignity to honor your own dissatisfaction. If it is something that you want to so quickly get away from, why return to it again and again?
