This analysis critiques a Spanish newspaper's survey on reading habits, arguing that it conflates "books" with "literature" and reveals a societal decline in genuine literary engagement, replaced by commercialized content and superficial consumption.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
We are going to refer here to a current topic that has to do with literature
and with a chapter with an issue related to the sociology of literature. Recently, a
publishing medium, a newspaper, the country published a survey, actually, more of a
questionnaire, as the newspaper itself indicates, being at this point very realistic with what
it does, although it presents it in broad terms naturally to give it dissemination and visibility,
but in reality, more than a survey, it is in a broad sense, it is a questionnaire limited
to 2000 people, it would be very interesting maybe have done it to 2 million people
but Well, in this case the sample is limited to 2000 people, as
many readers will probably have already seen this, this news or this fact, this survey. Here we are not going
to take many aspects for granted, but we are going to analyze not so much the survey as the reality to
which this survey refers and the role that literature would occupy within this survey,
naturally we have to limit ourselves to what the survey is. On the one hand, we contrast and analyze
what the spectrum of this survey is with what the literature demands. and what literature
is must be distinguished The survey refers to the books we read, not the literature we
read, they are two completely different things, therefore, although we would like or be interested in seeing
what literature there is in the books, the survey refers to books, not literature, therefore Here
literature is a part of a whole that is limited to 2,000 respondents to 2,000 readers.
It is important to state from the beginning the data of the survey or questionnaire that
appears here at the end. The technical sheet is very important. I insist that you take it into account. because he
scope is Spain the universe a general population residing in Spain except Ceuta and Melilla from
18 years of age and with the right to vote the sample size is 2000 interviews 2000
people and the interview procedure was online it was I understand that in Internet, a sample error of approximately 2.2 is recognized
for a 95 percent confidence interval. The date of completion was
October 29 to 30, 2024, that is, a little more, a little more, we would say almost a month. It's been almost a month
or so, eh, I insist that the questions that I don't know what they actually were, I don't
know exactly, What the questionnaire is, I don't have it here in front of me, what H raises above all is:
What kind of books do we read? What kind of people read? What type of books and what are some
characteristics that are introduced as differential or discriminatory elements? In short,
specific elements of one or other readers. In short, it is a survey of
very small statistics because there are only 2000 people, that is, imagine that that
any network social can have more followers or more subscribers 2,000 people are very few this
should be expanded more and perhaps limit the field to more specific aspects more specific But
well we analyze what we have no we cannot demand either people have done this work and
we are going to have ourselves aa but what place does literature have in all this because here we talk about
books but not literature and this is enormously important and then they present 10 elements
that they propose as key 10 key elements and they highlight some aspects in general terms of
course The first reflection is about the book. It has not always been said that the physical book in
physical format in edited format. Well, the book dies because it has been replaced by other
forms or by other procedures or by other reading communication techniques such as
the digital screen, tablets and computer books through different methods,
models and procedures, but this type of models and procedures in many cases had the
purpose more than to spread reading, to promote the sale of the instruments of
digital devices that made this reading possible. This is in many ways true for those who truly
have an interest in reading a book reads it through any means possible. Whoever is
interested in reading a book adopting a certain form of behavior such as sitting
in an armchair may not care much about what they read because they are more interested in the organization.
emotional development of their leisure than the intellectual development of their interpretative abilities of what
literature is. I insist that here we are talking about books, not literature. Although literature is a part
of these surveys, what is true is that we could identify the book as what What is a
basic invention? I mean, something that, no matter how many changes take place in the world,
is always more economical than another approach, that is, printing some sheets and grouping them
or putting them together in a binder or in a set of bindings can be more comfortable.
easier than acquiring a certain electronic device to read those same contents,
in other words, the wheel will always be round, it may be toothed, or it may have the designs
you want to have, but it will always be round in the same way as the ring in a certain way,
even if it has a configuration, even a trapezoidal one, will always be circular. Well, the book in some
way will always tend to have the possibility of printing and of a binding type format, be it
papyrus, wax or clay tablets, or lithography. In short, it will always look for a
physical support to through which making itself visible, even orality itself. Although memory,
human memory has retention limitations that naturally cannot be compared
with the megabytes or megabits that computer devices of any type have, but
it is very difficult to exterminate the book, it is much easier without However, exterminating the contents that
should nourish a good book, that is a much more variable and much more debatable question, but what
place does literature occupy in the current edition of books? What place does literature occupy in the
books we read? H I don't know if this was an era. one of the questions asked in this survey but HM
would have liked to have more information on this point to reach
conclusions that I probably already know Because I know the literature that people read,
literature years ago was read in universities in schools in secondary education centers
today we do not read any part of it today instead of reading literature we read what we are going to see in
this report which is said to be read but it is not literature and we are going to see that literature in
this survey it is conspicuous by its absence, that is, it is neither present nor the wait What is in its place in its
place there is pseudoliterature there are products that under the format of printed or digital book pretend to be
literary content but in reality they are not except for some exception more or less
worthy of mention more or less worth mentioning let's analyze Here very briefly between each
of these keys but we are going to analyze them in a critical sense in a strongly
critical sense the first of these keys or mentions that are mentioned that we are mentions that
are referred to in them it is mentioned that there are indeed readers that we could assume
that we live in a society in which one does not read, let's see. This is obviously redundant,
there are readers and there must be readers for an absolutely fundamental reason. Teaching
people to read and write, even if poorly, is the way that allows people to take the bait.
available That is to say, to take a bait in the society in which we live it is essential to know
and read and write incorrectly, that is to say I repeat So that there is no room for misunderstandings to know
how to take the bait that the society in which we live offers us daily it is necessary to know how
to read and write incorrectly because if someone knows how to read and write correctly, they will take fewer
baits than the system offers to fall into different traps. Therefore, it is very important
to learn to read and write incorrectly, reading and writing correctly is not taught, that is
impossible because school Universities and educational centers have subordinated themselves
and have assumed the codes that induce people to learn to read and write incorrectly. So
then you tell me, well, what if I want to learn to read and write correctly? What
should I do, then make a living? on your own be a self-taught person because the school, the university
and the secondary education centers are not going to provide him with that knowledge and they will not give it to him
to provide because what is politically correct at the moment is to teach people to write
with graphic pathologies of all kinds to be insubordinate with respect to the regulatory norms
of communication because it is assumed that going against those norms is going against the
system against patriarchy or against climate change, for example, that is, saying anything
is OK as long as it goes against something Anything is OK, any form of behavior
that goes against something is currently legitimized and of course using incorrect spelling some
rules Incorrect grammatical statements and everything that has to do with an adulteration of the
communication processes are not as a form of ignorance but as a higher form of
Rebellion or as a form of neurodivergence. If we want to remain noble above
any other phonetic articulations euphonious linguistics that show as
a cheesy and business card in communication processes, that is to say, the more cheesy words
you use to say nothing, the better it is whatever you say. Even if nothing means what
you say, that is something fundamental. then Of course there are readers Because it is absolutely impossible
to deceive people without providing them with the appropriate means for them to fall into deception and at this
time writing and reading incorrectly is one of the means that ensures that cheats have
the largest possible clientele in the world. To say someone who does not know how to read and write would be,
we would say, with Rousseau exempt from taking any bait because the baits are intended for
those who know how to read and write incorrectly and therefore do not worry that readers and
speakers and opinion makers will see in This society in which we are those who want and more because it is what
enables people to make mistakes, especially to make mistakes in public. So it is
said that reading is more popular than video games and the so-called podcasts or recording files
. downloadable sounds Although it has been surpassed by other forms of digital leisure,
71 of those interviewed listen to music on a platform regularly Well, but
these are, I insist, forms of leisure, that is, no longer, the survey here already surpasses because
the survey asks what books we read but we can also ask ourselves what We listen.
In other words, what music do we listen to, but of course here are two different questions. In other words, what books do we read?
What books do we write? What literature do we read? What music do we listen to or simply what do we listen to
because normally what do we listen to? We listen to the car engine of the noise that cars make.
cars dogs barking or people arguing but of course I guess people will not organize
their leisure at least 77 percent of consumers do not tune in Ann a dog barking the
internal combustion engine of a car or simply a jackhammer breaking up tiles in a sidewalk eh
of course obviously leisure is oriented from the point of view of what is heard or what is
read in other contexts I don't think that 77 percent of people are dedicated to reading barcodes
of commercial products obviously So, of course, if it says that reading is more popular than
video games in certain contexts, naturally, massively. Yes, but well, the survey is based on
some basic principles, the survey is not poorly done, that is, far from it, eh, far
from anything else. I would like that It was broader or whatever But well, of course the
pollsters will say Well, if you don't like this survey, do it better, no, so
I want to say that in this sense, I go ahead, my utmost respect for those who have done this
work, that's ahead. Of course, and it seems to me that I insist on a work that is revealing of what there is, if
one doesn't like it, then they should do it better or do something else, but in this sense it seems to me like a sample
of what there is and it seems to me that this should be recognized. work that these people have done, of course,
then you notice that television says that television has surpassed has been surpassed by 83
for decades it has been mass entertainment that is, for decades television
reached a leisure organization quota of 83 of the population today that is no longer the case but
Of course, if we do a survey on the population's leisure, well, we would have to put a
box for the hours that people dedicate to walking dogs because of course, dog walking
is also a way of organizing, I don't know if it's leisure or work. the population then of course here
competes with many aspects the reading of books that are about literature or whatever
they want about alien politics or whatever involves the organization of
people's leisure competing with many activities and we are going to see to the end let's see to the end of
this What is the quotient that remains after dividing the leisure of reading with the leisure of
many other leisure activities but here there is a basic error from my point of view not in
the survey but simply in the reality of literary interpretation And linking
literature to leisure is already denaturalizing literature because we are going to see why
literature is talked about in relation to leisure And why oncology is not talked about in relation
to leisure How many idle people dedicate themselves to cardiovascular surgical operations of
course I find it very funny that literature is linked to leisure as if literature
were freely linked to leisure. That is to say, how many road, canal and
port engineers dedicate their free time to carrying out the professional work of building or designing
roads, canals and ports but H Why is the builder of literary works or the
intelligent consumer of literary works identified with an idler? Of course, this has occurred since the time
not only of Cervante but since the origin of the literary classics, but this way of linking
literature with idleness I had more to do with the exemption of responsibilities of the seriousness
of things that were going to be poured into the literary contents than with a reality by virtue of
which the builder of literary works was someone idle, that is, Cervant himself
always refers to the idle reader to tell you that in his exemplary novels he has definitely brought together
a lot of things that have no meaning ,
no second meaning, but simply aim to entertain and delight people.
critical approaches in
society that no other form of discourse like literature is capable of carrying out, that is to say
that literature has always been an expression of rebellion against power, not because Javier
Cercas says so in his entrance speech at the Royal Academy. who says many simple things, many very
simple things, and also says a series of things that, by the way, I have already said much before
when he says that today Cervantes would not win the Cervantes prize that bears his name.
We have already said this in the critique of reason. literary since since the first years of the 20th century and
a From the first years of the 21st century, that is, Cervantes would not win today the prize that bears his
name Because the prize that bears his name would go to Avellaneda, therefore Javier
Cercas arrives very late to this observation but well he also says other things in his speech
that maybe one day we will comment but it's not worth it because there really is nonsense that is not
worth even mentioning let alone repeating But well we'll see. everything will go The
fact is that I insist, there are people, as this survey says, who barely read books. It seems that
18 percent of the population does not read any books and that others read up to 20 books a year and then
it seems that they enter the highest class in the highest range of 5% but reading many
books a year does not make us more intelligent or more valuable than those who do not read any books a
year because the question is not about the number of books read per year but rather the question is in
what is read per year per day per month or in life In short, second question second question, it is
said that women read more than men, especially women over 60 years of age, well, this
is still an appreciation that can be useful above all to the sociology of literature
and to the friends of the literary trade or to the sorry friends of the book trade is
say a sociology of book sales, this is of interest above all to marketing, that is to say,
to the book market, to the publishing market. What type of women over 60 years of age are incorporated
more massively if this statement is allowed to the book market is something that without Doubt publishers,
distributors, eh, authors can take into account when developing a commercial product, let us keep
in mind that here I insist that we are talking about the sale and consumption of books, the reading of books,
not the reading of literary books or the reading of works. literary that is which
interests me professionally and personally more, but this survey helps me to see how those who
interpret these social facts organize them from the point of view of a
public questionnaire. Ultimately, the third point talks about the eclectic tastes of the books that are They read, although
the titles are repeated, quotes are almost always the so-called best-sellers or best-sellers. This
inevitably has to be the case. For what reason, because they are the only books that people access,
that is, people who do not have specific professional training on a certain subject.
theme only accesses those books that the market puts in front of them in such a way that no one
is going to get up in the morning to see what type of books are professionally related to their
professional field. Unless they are a professional who actually, due to their training, cultivates that
type of reading but commonly the consumer, let's say free, the Virgin consumer of books
who simply wants to spend some leisure time reading something, doesn't care about reading Don Quixote, whether
he reads what Arturo Pérez Reverte or any other person has written, that is to say, he doesn't care
because just try to kill time but of course using literature to
kill time I think it must be something equivalent to pouring soda on a high-quality wine eh
For some people that would spoil the wine H from my point of view eh of course
simply entertaining yourself with good literature is stopping take advantage of the contents of good literature
to entertain yourself with something because it is enough simply because I don't know how to put a pacifier on the dog and look
for it there are people who do it or simply watch television or read a book by
Emilio and that with that already entertains you a lot No, but let's see another thing is to read literature and
another thing is to read a book to acquire a series of knowledge that will allow you to make your
way in life or improve your living conditions that is another completely
different question That is another question completely one can understand yourself with a rattle entertain yourself with
a rattle you pick up the rattle you make it ring and you entertain yourself with it that's no problem or
you can even rattle a book but we talk about other issues the case of best sellers are
the easy books because you simply make a travel in an airport comes across a
series of books, sees a title that is more or less striking, acquires it and reads it on the
plane. In fact, most book readers on the plane always read the first pages,
they always read the first pages and naturally Someone will tell me, well, I go on
a plane and I read the latest ones, well, either because it starts at the end or because you are a reader who
finishes the books that you start reading on a plane. I don't get into anyone's life. Private
But what What I notice is that when I travel frequently, people always have new books on
that on that journey is the question a question is asked frequently the books that change
the lives of human beings This is an illusion the books did not change the life to the books one arrives
with one's life changed by many other aspects Your life is changed by an accident, an illness,
an ible situation, that is what really changes your life, but a book does not change your life and someone
will tell me Well, I have read Don Quixote and reading has changed my life.
chapter well and I will tell him and I once I found a frog, I kissed it and it turned into
a princess And tell me no, eh That's it, then I'm not going to discuss these types of issues. I don't
discuss personal experiences. If someone drinks coffee at midnight with ghosts. Every day, I don't.
I'm going to discuss this now. What I do know is that books don't change anyone's life. Life
changes. I insist, an Irreversible illness, a debt, a natural catastrophe, those types of
things introduce big changes in life, the death of a parent. a mother at an early age
oo well events of this nature are vital changes in life now books
in principle are very harmless entities much more harmless than anyone can believe
much more harmless in reality what gives life to a book It is the life that a reader who reads that
book and who, from reading that book, carries out a series of works of operations
in his life that do not necessarily have to do directly with the readings that he has done, not
in short. If someone reads Crime and Punishment and identifies with Rascol Nikov, they decide
to enter the next door neighbor's house with an ax to promote equality in the world,
it is not because Dostoyevsky is to blame but because that person probably
already has a disorder that has been seen more or less motivated by an emotional reaction that
Dostoyevsky's book provoked as much as anything else could have provoked, that is to say no no
no it is not possible to attribute changes in the course of history to literature in a
really clear literal sense, the survey recognizes that This variety of response prevents us from making real
classifications, we talk about rankings. In short, classifications, then look at
what the survey reveals. What the surveyors reveal is that what the survey reveals and
the survey reveals is that Cervantes' Don Quixote has 14 mentions 14 mentions probably by
topic because people like to look good when they speak publicly, not as I said in the
pazos of uyoa Emilia Pardo Bazán said Compostela is a city in which no one wants to appear
ignorant, well Compostela and old could do it To say Clarín is also old and anyone
by themselves means no one wants to be considered ignorant. So when they ask you about
a book, then Don Quixote is good to say good Don Quixote I I read Don Quixote I like Don Quixote
etcetera etcetera 14 mentions and then another book appears which is Tell me who I am by an author
called Julia Navarro whom I don't know and the shadow of the wind by Carlos Ruiz I don't know much about
who have six and five mentions respectively and one thing that puts Caballo de Troya by Benítez
four mentions and then comes Lazarillo de Tormes and El Camino de Delibes, which is probably due to the fact
that they are readings from centers of teaching because otherwise they wouldn't come out here, that is, no one would know
who Lazarillo de Tormes is, or the book, or the Well, yes, if we ask Who is the author of
Lazarillo de Tormes and someone tells me Alfonso de Valdés, I'll give him a prize, not the kisses. About
the frog, I don't kiss anyone, much less frogs, but it would be to give a prize, right,
to these elements and the path of the lives, which is what I'm sure is, that looks like an
educational reading. half sure and then another one that says here I want and I can't I want and I can't
reminds me of this phrase by José María I wrote about Balaguer that on the way he said Don't say I can't
say I don't want well this I want and I can't well and then it appears Pérez reberte Arturo Pérez rerte
then Of course in this list where El Quijote lazarillo de tormes and lives appears and then
other titles appear that probably next year no one will know that they have existed because
these are basically used books books that are written that the I could write In my opinion,
artificial intelligence can write them perfectly because they are basically kits.
But hey, this is my personal opinion that naturally anyone can discuss now Don
Quixote is not written by an artificial intelligence and neither is Lazarillo de Tormes and the path of
deliv is not written by the rest. I imagine that an Artificial Intelligence could write it but of course this is
a question that would have to be demonstrated. This is my opinion, an opinion that has no more value
than the fact that I think about it that way and I have the freedom to think about it in those terms.
But This does not mean that the rest of people who hear me have it for sharing at all or
I intend it fourth key that is mentioned here there is no consensus on the most relevant author of the
20th century Although the majority of those surveyed choose Pérez reverte Of course, but what is the
most relevant author, the one who sells the most, the one who raises the most controversy, the one who most
The tallest the most handsome the ugliest the most interesting the funniest eh I don't know Of course that
's the 21st century but of course it's very curious because when some people are asked Who is
the most relevant author of the 21st century they say that Cervantes Of course, this is naturally true, if they asked me,
I would say Cervantes. I would say Cervantes, but of course my case has the effect of
a very great irony that would refer and the joke must be explained because otherwise it would not be understood
that it would refer to the current events that a writer like Cervantes has in El Siglo 21 but
Quevedo also has it and Góngora also has it and Tirso de Molina also has it and
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz also has it etc. so of course aside Pérez Reverte has ironies,
which, far from being an irony, I won't say it's a catastrophe either, much less not, but
it's curious, it's curious, it's curious, it's funny, it's Sorry, Leo, I quote, no, I'm not saying it's funny,
I quote, it's funny to see that in this list there are answers from clueless readers
well clueless readers not ironic readers Or ignorant readers things have to be called
by their name gentlemen who do the survey call things by their name Although HM Well
if I were you I would also put sincerely clueless but well clueless readers like
those who point to Miguel de Cervantes 5% 5% of clueless readers who are surely those who
have read Don Quixote who point to Cervantes as the best writer the most relevant of the
21st century best Spanish writer more relevant of the 21st century Miguel de Cervantes 5% 5%
this wolf has five little wolves who consider that Cervantes is the
most relevant living Spanish writer of the 21st century and then Well, there is others who mention Isabel Allende
and Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel García Márquez also from the 21st century Eh well Okay Amen eh fifth
key that is adduced here as you see the survey no no it is not less valuable in any aspect
it is very revealing it is very revealing of what What is there? Young people snack, many of them read poetry,
comics or manga, and you could also say that they eat garlic soup and try to daydream,
fine. But hey, let's get on with it, snacks, many of them read poetry. comics or mangas I wonder
when people read poetry what poetry Read this this has to be very good eh the vast majority of
Spanish readers read novels here they use this plural which I do many times that is to say
eh the vast majority of readers Spaniards read novels, that would be correct, but I confess
that I find it very common that I also use this plural relative to the genitive
of the subject and not to the subject. The vast majority of Spanish readers read novels.
This also happens to me with I often confess it and it is a In short it is a sylepsis it is not a solecism no
it would not be the most correct but well it is debatable eh it is debatable it does not matter if they are classics read
by 72 for them or contemporary 75 by are also popular is the short stories or
stories and comics but you have to look at each generation And then here they establish
some differences between generations they talk about generation Z of the boomers you already know that
you know if you have followed me frequently that I I basically distinguish two generational movements,
the bomes and the millenarians, so-called millenarians, because this
millenarian expression in Spanish is much more expressive than the expression millenials in English, which is much more
semantically limited. millenarianism places us at the end of a millennium with a much
more resonant expressiveness. with a semantic reverberation much greater than what the
term millennial can have in English, then there are late bomes as is my case, especially those of us who were already born in
the latest trend of the boomers and then there is a generation xyz but there in those generations the
characteristics of the Boomers become attenuated and the characteristics progressively increase.
characteristics of the millenarians And well, here it is said that generation Z
calls comics comics and what they want to be called is that they are something else Of course here, some call them
comics, others call them comics, that is, each one reflects the influence that has received but the tbo
was the original nomenclature that this had before the English world, the Anglo-Saxon world,
took over the consciences of human beings, that is, there are some of us who continue to have a
more genuine version of reality, we know the two versions and we know which one to use at
any given time . That
's more like Generation
present continuous the fantastic gender could be
changing from masculine to feminine no the correct thing is the normal present indicative without anxieties
the fantastic gender changes from masculine to feminine No it is not necessary to use a present continuous
English if we speak in Spanish the fantastic gender could happen could move from masculine to
feminine I say that yes, if Cervantes had written Don Quixote in the present continuous, eh, the first sentence
of Don Quixote would be in a place in La Mancha whose name I don't want to be trying to remember, eh,
of course, eh, of course, that, that, no, we can't, we can't talk permanently in the present continuous. Whose
name I don't want to be remembering, of course, that doesn't make no sense, the
abuse of the present continuous makes no sense and then it is actually said that it seems that the
fantasy genre increasingly incorporates women instead of men, but of course What? is he fantastic genre
the fantastic genre what content does it have aliens or sexuality because of course
sexuality as presented in writing in most cases is increasingly
fantastic and less realistic more fantastic in a sense of wonderful in a sense of
unreal not In a sense of extraordinary clarity, it is advisable to clarify here a lot the semantics
of the words people say the report Choose texts that help us in some way in
one or more tasks and that is why they highlight categories such as trips to organize a trip cooking health
hobbies and self-help or psychology clear here the genre of the Self-help is almost a way of
life, that is a terribly dominant genre because it reflects the ailments of the consumer. In
short, it seems that when reading texts related to the fantastic, that is,
with extremely idealistic idealistic content, they are incorporated. more and
more women and less men, there is an aspect here that, for example, catches my attention that
I do not see that the survey has identified What is politics, that is to say, politics greatly attracts
men, much more than it attracts women. which doesn't mean no also attracts women
but it greatly attracts men texts related to ideology with political ideology
attract a lot to men and yet It is a term that I do not see that the survey identifies
and I do not think that it has hidden it at all, this does not make any sense. The survey
is revealing of what is there. I do not presume any type of manipulation here. Without a doubt,
the results that were given and made public are not worth thinking about, but I observe that I do not know if
those who did the survey at this point will have noticed it. you will have perceived this They will have
missed it in some way but I see that the issue of books related to politics with
ideology does not appear much in this survey, it is that it practically does not appear at all
and it catches my attention, it is noted that retirees are the ones who fewer self-help books
with obviously what sense does it have for a retiree to read a self-help book when he has already
lived his life when he knows more about self-help apart from the fact that the term self-help is completely
misleading because one cannot help oneself, that is, one receives the Help from others The term
self-help is a literal translation from English that does not make any logical sense either in English
or in any possible human language because no one can help himself, that is, help
We receive from an external source in such a way that the help always recognizes the existence of someone
outside of us who gives us that help, that is, we cannot help ourselves Unless
we double ourselves, which is flatly impossible. In any case, it is an exercise. narcissistic
is an Anglo-Saxon idealism, this is absolutely incompatible with human rationalism, it is very
typical of the Enlightenment. Seventh point, here we notice the importance of cultural capital,
the capital of a home library, that is, the ability to read. The habit of reading is
inherited from generation to generation is in such a way that if you have had
a father, a mother, grandparents, relatives with a library in a house that induce reading
that educate in the habit of reading It seems logically that those habits they develop
more powerfully more intensely than if they are lacking genealogical So to speak, not
having books at home is also associated with children becoming good readers es es It is logical but
it is worth noting it And at this point a series of statistics are also given enormously
revealing the habits of reading if they exist if they occur they tend to be conserved they tend to be perpetuated
eighth key the so-called eh electronic books and their impact their impact on the generations H
like the z that is, those that are closest to what I call millennialists generation Z something the
and a a little
less the x the
perfectly logical in the same
way that if we had lived in the Middle Ages and read, you would read more parchments than the
digital press of the day, obviously not, and that if we lived in Mesopotamia of the Third Millennium BC,
then you would read more wax tablets than digital tablets than digital tablets. To
put it this way, in fact we talk about wax tablets and digital tablets and not about
wax tablets and digital tablets. To understand each other, it is said that many books are read in English and that
these are more valuable. I do not think it is more valuable to read what is written in English, it is
definitely more kit because here there is a very important problem that must be noted, considering that seeing
the world with the eyes of the Anglosphere is seeing more and seeing better in my opinion. It is a mistake to consider
that joining the dynamics of a country like the United States is to be at the forefront. For
me, it is quite misleading because approaching the United States pretending to be at the
forefront, the only thing that achieves is that we get closer more quickly, that is to say that we get closer.
We are precipitating the next historical failure of the empire currently in force, which is that of
the United States, that is to say that at this moment, the further we are from the United States, the
later we will receive the impact of the political failure that this country represents and to which
we will inevitably fall. Therefore, being in the is not the best place to
be at this moment because being in the vanguard means always taking the first slap that history gives in
the course of facts and events. It is preferable in moments like this to be more well in
the rear because I insist, when the United States sinks, it will be accompanied by those who
are in the vanguard with it, so be very careful with signing up for certain vanguards. Later,
China will come, but China does not introduce major changes. China is definitively the United States under
a totalitarian regime. China is a clone of the United States. a kit of the United States in
all aspects in marketing in society but with the exception that China replaces
democracy with totalitarianism, that is, China is the United States plus totalitarianism in In short,
and in fact, the United States and China converge on the same approach because the North American democracy
is becoming more totalitarian every day, no matter where we look, I don't care
if we go for whoever lost the elections or for whoever won them, we are moving towards totalitarianism.
Naturally, this can be discussed. I am not going to get into any discussion. I am clear about my beliefs.
ideas I do not need to clarify them by discussing these aspects with anyone, everyone who thinks what
they want, I think what I think and that's it, but in short, be very careful with being
in the vanguard of countries like the United States because the only thing we achieve with this is a
greater proximity to the ground at times when there is no landing gear In short, that is to
say that the problem there is the penultimate point, the number nine is said, we all read on paper,
but youth, younger people already read almost everything digitally Almost more of half in digital
and h in the mobile phone well that means that if they read on the mobile phone they read with little depth because the
mobile phone is not the most appropriate device to read Don Quixote if they read on the mobile phone it is not Don Quixote and
if they read on digital screens then they probably read content that only they can be read comfortably
or profitably on digital screens. In other words, the criticism of literary reason can be read on a
digital screen but accompanied by certain media. Don Quixote can undoubtedly be read on a digital screen
but not on a mobile phone. The mobile phone presents many limitations for
reading Don Quixote and there will always be someone smart who tells me that I can read Don Quixote, yes,
yes, and I can also play a non-existent piano, an invisible piano. No problem, that's why it's not
there anymore and start arguing with someone like that now. You will see that they do not end even on the day of
final judgment They continue with it What is true is that many of these people also receive
influences through the so-called influencers who in English are called influencer and I don't know why
in Spanish it is not spoken actually influential They are not influential, in reality they are simply
communication buffoons. In short, hey, it is the buffoonery of communication. It is the brand of communication.
They are mercatrans smis. I use this term. mercatrans smis. The mercatrans smis are
basically the neurons that, through the Internet, are dedicated to spread what each other does,
most of the so-called influencers are nothing more than human avatars
or human beings who acquire an Avatar configuration and who say obvious things simply so
that others mercatrans smis in turn discuss them on the internet, some saying that they are very good and
others saying that they are very bad, but whatever they say, the important thing is that they say something, even if it is
to criticize. It doesn't matter, that is to say, on the internet every adversary becomes a publicist. and that is what
the Internet actually seeks, that is to say, the Internet does not care whether the reviews are good or
bad
. positively activate system advertising
Activate network advertising and energize the network, that is, the only thing that the Internet
does not tolerate are dead neurons, that is, people who are on the Internet and do not participate in some
way. In fact, the Internet is nothing more than a constant stimulus to intervention in the participation, it
doesn't matter what you say, it doesn't matter, what matters is that the network is constantly heating up
, that the network is constantly being energized, and that each user behaves like what the Internet
expects of them, which is to be a market transmitter that makes videos criticizing the others who make comments
criticizing the videos by turning them green The more the better because in this way the
dissemination and publicity increases, which is why many people who are against certain ideas are the
main promoters of those ideas through the Internet because the best disseminators of a book
They are those who cannot stand neither the author nor the person who wrote it, nor the book nor its contents
in such a way that a detractor, what they would call, hates, haters, detractors.
In short, they do much more publicity than a follower, always much more so.
eh, always much more and much more active because it is a friendlier, more sarcastic,
more stinging and in reality In short, the detractors are the best publicists that
anyone can have, in fact there are many, many people who all they want is to have detractors
because they are let's say the most important advertising centers that can be found on the internet that
Naturally, companies know it, publishers know it,
data control centers know it, and the digital press naturally knows it. For this reason, the press presents news in such
a way that its impact is directly proportional to the irritation that these news cause in people. readers
The more irritating you want a piece of news, the more likely it is to spread,
especially among those people who dislike that news, that is to say, news that displeases
90% of the population spreads much more quickly and actively than pleasant and pleasant news
. what do you think the News programs are saturated with bad news because
bad news spreads much more than good news, which is
completely insipid, colorless and odorless, in such a way that when someone spreads something with which they disagree, they are
working as a publicist for free in favor of that content. that when someone
makes a video or a sarcastic, malicious, burlesque comment, that is contributing
enormously to the dissemination of the character they criticize of the content they are trying to put
out, that is, they are the best publicists. that there are the most free ones because they waste a
lot of energy on those types of things that the mercatrans of the internet advertising system
benefit from these people in a Fabulous way, that is, what the internet has achieved has
been to turn leisure into work of many people who are of no use and that is of
admirable usefulness, that is, that is an achievement of the Anglosphere that cannot be denied, that is, the ability
to put to work idle people who are of absolutely no use and of do it without paying them
a penny that is a question eh, it is an impressive human capital last point number 10
many men and even more women want to have more time to read yes people want to have
time for everything but today's society requires that reading complex reading
attentive reading reading that requires concentration has very few spaces and very few
time slots to be able to be carried out, among other things, because the daily life of human beings
is always interfered with by elements that disable it, that cancel it, if you want
to use this fashionable word, that constantly interfere with it, well, because the mobile
It sounds good because the eh I don't know eh the notices from WhatsApp eh or other social networks
are constantly popping up the notifications call not about this or that and then that
greatly interrupts reading processes processes that is to say current life has no
place nor does it provide opportunities for complex and concentrated readings and to maintain over time a rhythm
of concentration that literature requires. For this reason, this mm survey, in which more has been said
about books than about literature, is still up in the air, is still up in the air. Maybe it would be
interesting to do a literature survey but if we do a survey on literature
we are going to get Pérez reverte and all these people who have very little to do with literature
because that has more to do with, I insist, with the commercial production of consumer books. But that
is not literature. It's just that Literature is something completely different and you will tell me Well,
what is literature, look, I have already explained that in many videos and I have explained it in a work
called criticism of literary reason, so go to the corresponding chapter,
which is chapter three. where it is explained what it is Literature but what Pérez Reverte writes
is not literature. What Pérez Reverte writes is a commercial book that makes a lot of money. It is
a technical market product and what is good or what is bad? I am no longer involved in that. If you write
better than Pérez Reverte prove it write write a book and convince more readers than
Pérez Reverte convinces then of course what we cannot do is say well what
this man writes is not literature and therefore it is bad I am not saying that this is neither Good
or bad, I say that it is not literature. And from there, everyone can think what they want.
Now, if someone believes that they write better than Pérez, they should take a computer or pick up a computer.
a paper and a pencil and start writing and convince more readers than Pérez
reverte convinces. So at this point Cortés does not take away the brave at all now this survey is
very revealing, very short in terms of length because it has been limited to 2000 people, well it could be
limited to 2 million but I don't think that the results would be substantially different
now what is basically manifested here is that literature literature as
Sabino Fernández Campo would say of another character Sabino Fernández Campo said in His moment is neither there nor is
he not said about literature, he said it about someone else but the phrase "eh" made history.
So in this type of surveys, literature is neither there nor is it expected because it is neither in the
universities nor in the educational centers. media or in schools, but just because it is not there does not mean
that it is not in my interpretations and in the interpretations of many other people
who, isolated and on their own, do dedicate themselves to interpreting literature. Surveys of this
type reveal what there is and what it is. What is there? It is that literature, due to its absence, we are already facing the
second generation of Spaniards who have come of age without having any type of
literary training and since they do not have any type of literary training, they do not distinguish a book from a
book of literature. Probably the surveys carried out in the future will no longer perceive in
absolute this type of distinctions and will consider that Cervantes and Harry Potter are the same but that
Harry Potter is much more valuable than any other character Cervantino this is already what
is studied today and what is applied today applauds Nothing new if we take into account that In the
17th century the famous enlightened, those who knew so much and who had such a high idea of
reason in every sense considered that Abellaneda's Don Quixote was much more valuable than
Cervantes' Don Quixote, which is why I have always said since the beginning of the 21st century, long before
Cercas arrived to the perception of half of that sentence that if Cervantes were alive today, the prize that
bears his name would be given to Abellaneda. And of course someone like Miguel Cervantes
would never, ever enter an academy like the one. current Spanish language academy
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
