This is not a fair comparison:

> Only 38 percent read a novel or short story... The proportion of Americans who read for pleasure on any given day fell from 28 percent in 2004 to 16 percent in 2023.... Gambling has become a more common leisure activity than reading a book: Last year, 57 percent of Americans placed a bet.

It takes much less time to place a bet than to read a novel/short story. Likewise, reading for pleasure "on any given day" is a totally different measure than "placed a bet last year".

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saulpw 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yeah, at least it should be over the same time period!

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lapcat 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Your selective quote left off the part that made it a fairer comparison. "Only 38 read a novel or short story" was a follow-up to "fewer than half of all adults reported having read a book of any kind in 2022." That's a year-long stat.

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apparent 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Reading an entire book takes much more time than placing an online bet.

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lapcat 3 hours ago | parent [-]

> Reading an entire book takes much more time than placing an online bet.

Yes, but do you only do things for pleasure if they're done quickly? Is your sex always over in a minute?

Also, I was responding to this:

> Likewise, reading for pleasure "on any given day" is a totally different measure than "placed a bet last year".

Yes, reading for pleasure "on any given day" is a different measure than "placed a bet last year", but "read a book of any kind in 2022" is the same length of time, though not the exact same year.

	▲	apparent 4 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> Yes, but do you only do things for pleasure if they're done quickly? Is your sex always over in a minute? This is a valid critique, but the motivations are not the same for reading books and gambling. Both are done partly for entertainment, but reading is partly for edification whereas gambling is partly for making money (in theory, at least). People want to make money almost universally, whereas ongoing edification is something that people do not enjoy intrinsically (meaning they would do it less if it takes more time). > Yes, reading for pleasure "on any given day" is a different measure than "placed a bet last year", but "read a book of any kind in 2022" is the same length of time, though not the exact same year. I critiqued the two comparisons separately for a reason. One conflated a time-consuming activity with a quick one, and the other conflated time periods of comparison. I do not claim that both critiques apply to both cases, just that each comparison is flawed.