Do you read an article and by the end remember practically nothing? Do you read a book and only retain three vague general ideas?
You’re not alone. We’ve all fallen into that fast, distracted, automatic reading habit at one time or another. Our eyes skim the words, but the words don’t seem to reach us. However, when this way of reading becomes the norm, we have a problem. And it’s not a small one. I’m referring to zombie reading, an increasingly widespread problem that shows no signs of abating.
What exactly is zombie reading?
Zombie reading is not a technical term, but rather a metaphor to describe an increasingly common experience in which reading is stripped of mindfulness and, as a result, there is no immersion in the text, no deep understanding, and much memo recall.
This refers to a cognitive phenomenon that compels us to quickly consume content only to forget it just as fast. It’s a way of reading where we skim through words like calories, but we don’t actually “digest” what we read.
Reading comprehension, chronicle of a death foretold in the age of speed
For me, reading is not just a window to knowledge; it has always been imbued with a sense of pleasure. Being alone with a book, quietly savoring the words, and then revisiting them to build something new upon the framework they have constructed in my mind is a very satisfying process.
Unfortunately, fewer and fewer people find satisfaction in reading, and therefore it is a skill (and a pleasure) that is being lost.
The latest OECD Adult Competence Assessment 2023 report revealed that in many countries adult reading comprehension skills have declined considerably or stagnated over the past decade.
In Spain, for example, 31% of adults scored at level 1 or lower, meaning their reading comprehension is extremely low. In Italy, that figure rose to 35%, and in the United States, it was 28%. In countries like New Zealand, Korea, Poland, and the United States itself, the decline in reading comprehension far exceeded 10 points compared to the previous year.
To grasp the magnitude of the problem, consider that Level 1 means people can only understand short texts and organized lists and are unable to extract information unless it is clearly stated. In other words, they are unable to make inferences and connect moderately complex ideas or ideas that are not expressed in a very simple way.
Looking at the other end of the spectrum, we find that only 12% of adults are able to understand and evaluate long, dense, multi-page texts, grasp complex or hidden meanings, and use their prior knowledge to comprehend the content. In short, we are heading toward a society of functional illiterates.
For years now, I’ve been noticing this decline in reading comprehension. No one reads a three-paragraph email anymore (the old-fashioned kind), let alone a long article. For the last couple of years, I’ve had to write with clearly defined bullet points and increasingly shorter sentences, and even then, it’s difficult for readers to grasp the main idea and the content. In fact, it’s no coincidence that AI writes in a disjointed style and we end up resembling it; it’s practically the only format that can reach a wide audience, with a few notable exceptions.
Beyond this cathartic interlude, the fact remains that our declining comprehension of what we read leads to a loss of depth that ultimately influences our daily decisions. Reading comprehension is not merely an academic skill; it is a tool for critical thinking. With strong reading comprehension, you not only understand the content of a text but are also able to evaluate arguments, identify contradictions, and connect ideas in different contexts. Without this skill, critical thinking suffers, and the ability to make sound decisions is impaired.
Zombie reading, why is it appearing right now?
For centuries, reading was synonymous with contemplation. We lingered over the words, reflected, went back, underlined, and connected ideas. However, the rise of digital media and information overload have radically altered that ritual.
On the one hand, we are constantly bombarded with information, much of it of poor quality, which only appeals to our emotions and encourages easy clicks and impulsive opinions rather than reflection. On the other hand, while we read, we have to contend with the incessant stimuli of screens: endless timelines, seemingly urgent notifications, videos that grab our attention more than the written word…
In this hyper-saturated and demanding world, we fall into the arms of multitasking hoping to be more efficient. Obviously, we can do several things at once (but we can’t do them well). A brain that jumps between apps, chats, and news has difficulty pausing and understanding a longer, more complex text.
In the long run, this “being everywhere” reduces our attention span and affects our ability to concentrate, which are the building blocks of comprehension and critical thinking. When we stop engaging with the text, reading becomes an automatic consumption habit, like scrolling through a phone’s photo gallery without pausing at any of the pictures.
As the attention economy has taken hold in our society, rewarding immediacy and penalizing slowness, our cognitive habits have adapted. Therefore, instead of reading to understand, we read to “certify” that we have read, resulting in reading without assimilation.
In this sense, journalist Nicholas Carr already warned in 2011 in his book The Glass Cage (a work I recommend) that the web (and social networks in particular) trains us for superficiality, shaping our attention in such a way that deep reading becomes less natural and more demanding, to the point that we discard it.
This zombie-like reading ends up damaging our ability to concentrate and contemplate, causes a deficit in the ability to store facts in memory, and irreparably affects information processing; that is, our thinking.
It’s no longer about reading, but about understanding
For a long time, we’ve believed that speed is a value in itself and that moving quickly is synonymous with progress. We want faster trains, lightning-fast internet, package deliveries in a matter of hours, and instant answers. But in reading, as in life, that can be a dangerous fallacy.
Going fast can mean not stopping to think, when thought is precisely what distinguishes a zombie reader from a conscious reader. Deep reading requires patience, attention, and reflection. There are no shortcuts.
Reading without understanding, mindlessly and with your mind elsewhere, is like inhabiting a meaningless language, like walking without knowing where you’re going. Unfortunately, once we’ve fallen into zombie-like reading, it’s time to rewire our brains. And that requires a lot of patience and perseverance.
We need to relearn how to connect with words in silence and with full presence, avoiding distractions from other stimuli. At the same time, we must pause, instead of jumping straight to something else when we finish reading, because it is in that space that we process and internalize the content.
Deep reading is not a luxury or an academic whim; it is essential for our minds. Recognizing this, in a world that celebrates speed and superficiality, is the first step to stop being a zombie reader and reclaim reading as an act of attention, reflection, and meaning through which we learn and grow.
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