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If the question is how to survive the tsunami of information in the age of AI, the answer is simple: learning not to read

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This morning I counted the open tabs on Day, my browser. Twenty-five. There was a Counterpoint analysis there that I opened five days ago to read “as soon as I can” but that I haven’t touched yet. A very good looking thread from X. Three newsletters to medium scrollwaiting for me like half-done homework. And so on a few more things. I’ve been writing about technology for fifteen years. My job is literally to read, filter and think about what I read. And yet, or precisely because of that, it is increasingly difficult for me to distinguish when I am informing myself from when I am simply moving my eyes. We have been treating reading as a virtue in itself for centuries. “Read more” has always been the universal advice, the automatic response to almost any shortcoming. AND tmade sense when the problem was the scarcity of sources. But the problem began to be different and we continued the same, with the same reflection. The mistake is that we have transferred the respect and moral inertia that we had for a good book to formats that do not deserve it. We read an endless thread of X, a marketing PDF or a newsletter inflated feeling that passing your eyes over that text is a meritorious act by default. It is no longer. Or at least, not always. I know this goes against me. AI has broken the equation in a way that borders on absurd comedy. Today anyone generates a ten-page report on any topic in three minutes. Any creator inflates an idea of ​​a paragraph until it fills a thousand words without adding a single new piece of information, just trash. And the great paradox is something we saw coming a long time ago: Our best defense is to use that same technology. We live in a loop where A machine lengthens a text to make it seem important, and we use another machine to summarize it for us in three bullets and thus save us the procedure. Some give the badge and others neutralize it. The amount of text available is no longer related to the knowledge it contains. There are more words than ever because it is easier than ever to generate them, but It is not at all clear that there are more ideas. What is growing is the pressure to consume them all. I feel like, often, that fear of being left out seems like intellectual curiosity when what’s underneath is simple FOMO. Traditional functional illiteracy consisted of deciphering the letters but not understanding a word of what they said. The new one looks more like the opposite: We understand each text perfectly, but we have lost the ability to decide if it deserves to be read.. We don’t filter. We do not rule out. We don’t say “this is bullshit that doesn’t give me anything.” Not enough. And we don’t do it because discarding information is something that we continue to feel like a loss, like an act of laziness that gives us away. But it is just the opposite. The ability to not read (identify in three seconds that something is not worth your next ten minutes) is today an act of intelligence that contributes almost as much as reading itself. And for that you need to develop your own red flag. In my case, if a text promises a revelation but the first paragraph is pure introductory nonsense, get out. If I sense grandiloquent adjectives and filling robotic structures, out. If there is not a single piece of data before the first scroll, on the run. I don’t even mention the monoline structure so common in X and LinkedIn. There, it directly catapults. When ChatGPT arrived, many of us thought that the risk of AI was that people would stop reading. It may be worse: that you read more than ever without thinking more than ever. Let it process without digesting. Accumulate information like someone who accumulates open tabs, with the vague promise of returning to them. We know he won’t. We never go back. I know this because I haven’t closed those twenty-five tabs all week and in the end I will close them all at once, without reading them, with a mixture of relief and guilt. But I have begun to understand that closing tabs suddenly after having selected the most interesting thing is a very healthy practice. In the end, the new functional illiterate is too much like my browser this morning: overloaded with tabs, full of promises to read, and completely unable to process a single more idea. In Xataka | There is a generation working for free as a documentarian of their own life: they are not influencers but they act as if they were. Featured image | Xataka

we read increasingly simpler books and it is affecting us

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A study of hundreds of bestsellers from recent years reveals that the sentences of the most popular books have shrunk by almost a third since the 1930s. What was once a paragraph is today a sentence. What was once a phrase is today a tweet. And the effects, according to several researchers and as it could not be otherwise, extend far beyond the literature. Shorter sentences. If you leaf through a hit from the 1930s, it is normal to find sentences of twenty words, sometimes more, with subordinate clauses, with clauses, with ideas that branch out. According to an analysis by The Economist elaborated on hundreds of New York Times bestsellersthe average sentence length of the most popular books has fallen by almost a third since that decade. ‘Harper’s Magazine’ estimates the average per sentence of a bestseller of that time at 22 words; Today it’s around 12. The article gives an example among many others: ‘Modern Painters’ by John Ruskin, number one in sales in its day: its first sentence is a whopping 153 words. Let’s remind Gen-Z that I couldn’t start ‘Wuthering Heights’‘ because of the subtlety of its grammar. Fewer readers. The shortening of sentences occurs while reading declines in almost all indicators. A study from the University of Florida and University College London Based on the activity diaries of more than 236,000 Americans over two decades, it quantifies the decline: the share of adults who read for pleasure daily fell from 28% in 2004 to 16% in 2023, a reduction of more than 40%. A “sustained and constant” decline of around 3% annually. In United Kingdom the data points in the same direction: 40% of Britons did not read a single book in 2024. The average Briton read three in the entire year. What is striking about the American study is that polarization is also advancing. Those who continue reading spend a little more time than before, 83 to 97 minutes on average per day. The phenomenon is not that everyone reads a little less, but that a minority reads a lot more while the majority has stopped reading completely. Mobile phone as the usual suspect. The most immediate explanation points to smartphones. It is not incorrect, but it is insufficient. ‘The Economist’ recalls that a Benedictine monk from the 4th century already described in his texts how the afternoon sun, the heaviness of lunch and the drowsiness of siesta time made it impossible to keep the book open. The problem of reading concentration predates algorithms and dopamine. What has changed in the modern age is the willingness to read. The crux of the matter. Professor Jonathan Bate, Professor of English Literature at Oxford, warns that losing the ability to read complex prose can also mean losing the ability to “develop complex ideas that allow you to see nuances and hold two contradictory thoughts at the same time.” The Economist uses data on public discourse to reinforce this thesis. An analysis of almost 250 years of US presidential inaugural addresses, applying the Flesch-Kincaid readability test, shows a clear trajectory: George Washington’s speech scored 28.7 points (graduate level); Donald Trump’s, 9.4 (high school). Reading is good. science has been documenting for a long time the cognitive benefits of sustained reading: improved reasoning, concentration, empathy and even reduced risk of mortality with just 30 minutes a day. But those benefits require reading, not planning to read. Reading has historically functioned as one of the few mechanisms of social mobility that does not require elite schools or family capital. Just a book and the desire to open it. The problem that the current data raises (from bestsellers with 10-word sentences to 40% of Britons without reading a book in a year) is that this desire does not have much firm territory on which to settle. Header | Photo of Thought Catalog in Unsplash In Xataka | In Tokyo there is a bookstore with only one book in the catalog. It has been open for ten years and works

I was about to buy the best-selling Chinese motorcycle in Spain. Until I read the fine print

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Chinese motorcycles They are driving the Spanish crazy. So much so that they are achieving the unthinkable: snatch the throne to the historic Japanese Honda and Yamaha. It is no wonder, since both in terms of performance and price, what the Chinese proposals offer is simply unbeatable. Servidor was recently at the Zontes dealership to test what is currently the best-selling A2 license scooter in Spain: the 368G. I went down from trying it convinced of the purchase, until I read the fine print. One that has a lot to do with China’s strategy to conquer Europe. The aforementioned. If you don’t understand much about motorcycles, the summary is easy: this motorcycle is “the SUV” with the best quality-price on the market. It costs less than 5,000 euros, has a 368cc engine and almost 40hp of power, and comes with extras such as rear and front cameras with Sony sensors, heated grips as standard, keyless boot and hood, screen with mirroring for the mobile… The equivalent in any traditional brand costs about 1,500 euros more. The rolling smoothness of the motorcycle is excellent, and although the general qualities are somewhat tight (something completely logical, given the price), it is an absolutely winning purchase. Everything good, except for one little problem. We are guinea pigs. China is achieving something unthinkable a few years ago in the world of motorcycles (and cars). They have not come to compete against smaller brands or carve out a niche for themselves. They have landed in Europe to take the top positions in the ranking and end the leadership of traditional brands. Decades of reign that they have managed to end in a very short time. To do this, at least in the territory of motorcycles, something key is needed in a vehicle for daily use and enjoyment: reliability. And to ensure that the bike passes through the workshop frequently, the inspection intervals are especially abnormal. Yes, but. In the case of this Zontes, the maintenance interval is 4,000km. Yes, every 4,000km you have to go to the workshop. To give you some context, its rivals like the Honda 350 ADV They go through the workshop every 12,000km, and the Yamaha Xmax 300 every 5,000km for oil changes and every 10,000 for the rest of the consumables. The brand is completely aware of the problem this poses, and the 2026 model will arrive in summer with maintenance intervals of 6,000km. It is a substantial change, since every 12,000km a 368g will have passed through the workshop three times. One 2026, two. Little by little. Zontes is not alone in this problem. Voge, the Chinese manufacturer that has managed to become the top 1 in the best-selling trail motorcycles in Spain, has several models with service intervals every 6,000km. But in its star versions, such as 900 DSXthis goes up to 10,000km. If they still sell, imagine in a year. There are many bikers who do not put too many kilometers on their motorcycle, or those who are willing to visit the workshop twice a year in exchange for taking a much more equipped, complete and powerful product. China is managing to place its motorcycles in the top 3 in sales even with this enormous handicap on the table. When your maintenance intervals match the rest of your competitors, the rest will be history. Image | Zontes In Xataka | Spain loves one thing: cheap motorcycles. Europe doesn’t like something else: cheap motorcycles.

His most iconic novels and how to read them

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Paul Auster is one of the most influential writers in contemporary literature, with works translated into more than forty languages. Despite his fame, delving into his work can be difficult given how precise and refined his prose is. To avoid unnecessary frustrations with Auster, we have prepared a reading guide for you: a tour in 10 easy steps so as not to miss any of the author’s key works. Where to start reading Paul Auster Born into a middle-class Jewish family, Auster studied French, Italian, and English literature at Columbia University before settling in Paris for three years, where he worked as a translator of Mallarmé, Sartre, and Simenon. His arrival on the American literary scene in the eighties was a breath of fresh air for a narrative that needed renewal: his work, impregnated with influences from the old continent, fused the best of North American and European traditions. His narrative universe, characterized by the exploration of chance, identity and metafiction, established a unique style that has inspired countless writers in aspects such as fiction that contaminates reality. To delve into his work, the ideal path begins with ‘The New York Trilogy’. This volume not only established him internationally, but also reinvented the detective genre with metafictional games, characters that unfold, and investigations that become existential searches. From there, two possibilities open up. On the one hand, the path of autobiography, with works such as ‘The Invention of Solitude’, written after the death of his father. On the other hand, Auster continues to explore the possibilities of pure narrative, with works such as the contemporary serial ‘The Moon Palace’ or ‘Leviathan’, a political reflection on the ravages of Vietnam on an entire generation. Finally we will stop at the ambitious ‘4 3 2 1’, which narrates four parallel lives of the same protagonist. The best novels by Paul Auster, in order 1. The New York Trilogy (1987) Consecrating work published between 1985 and 1987, which includes ‘Crystal City’, ‘Ghosts’ and ‘The Locked Room’, and which launched Auster to international recognition and marked a new starting point for the North American novel. Postmodern reinvention of the police genre where detective investigations are transformed into existential inquiries about identity, language and reality. In ‘City of Glass’, a crime novel writer named Daniel Quinn receives a wrong call that confuses him with a detective named Paul Auster, which leads him to accept the case and meet the real Auster, who is a writer, not a detective. ‘Ghosts’ presents a private detective named Blue watching a man called Black on behalf of White, in a claustrophobic urban universe where the watcher and the watched write identical reports sitting face to face, questioning who is watching whom and who is writing the other’s life. ‘The Closed Room’ closes the trilogy with the disappearance of a writer modeled after Auster himself, whose life, work and wife are inherited by the narrator, which makes him explore whether living the life of another corrodes to the point of destruction. Three seemingly independent stories that are interconnected with cross references. The New York Trilogy (Formentor Library) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links 2. The invention of solitude (1982) After that first instruction manual of the Austerian universe, we delve into the emotional engine of his work. Written after his father’s death, he explains why narrative games are not exercises, but rather tools for processing trauma. It is divided into two complementary texts that make up an autobiographical exploration of fatherhood, memory and loneliness. ‘Portrait of an invisible man’ is based on the impact of the news of the father’s death and the act of confronting the objects of the deceased to reconstruct a father who was absent even in life, including the reconstruction of a crime. In ‘The Book of Memory’ he distances himself from the initial grief and links reflections on his role as a son with his own early fatherhood. An unclassifiable text that establishes the emotional foundations of his later work. The invention of solitude (Formentor Library) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links 3. The Palace of the Moon (1989) After ‘The New York Trilogy’, Auster tackled this contemporary serial about paternity and imposture. It established Auster in Europe and for many it is his masterpiece because of how it grabs the resources of the nineteenth-century adventure novel and makes them his own. Marco Stanley Fogg (Marco Polo + the journalist who found Livingstone + Phileas Fogg from ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’) is an orphan who is left destitute after the death of his uncle. He will end up working for an old paralyzed painter, for whom he writes a biography for the son he never met. The novel is structured in a network of metaphors about the moon and light, in a journey of self-discovery full of stories within stories. The Palace of the Moon: 185 (Panorama of narratives) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links 4. Leviathan (1992) Auster’s most political novel is a reflection on the broken dreams of the Vietnam generation. The narrative begins at its end: in 1990, a man has a bomb explode in his hand and fly into pieces, an anonymous dead man that the FBI cannot identify. A writer suspects that it is his missing best friend, and decides to write his biography before the official story does so. The subject of the book is another writer, a conscientious objector imprisoned during Vietnam, the author of a youth novel that briefly turned him into a cult author, and also a possible murderer and urban terrorist who blew up replicas of the Statue of Liberty. Leviathan: 283 (Panorama of narratives) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links 5. The Music of Chance (1990) One of Auster’s most absorbing works, about destiny and freedom, which begins as a purely American road novel and mutates into Gothic literature. A Boston firefighter is abandoned by … Read more

The five best Christmas offers on Kindle depending on the price and use we are going to give it to read

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Amazon has launched many Christmas offers and, of course, the Kindles have fully entered them. But… which one to buy? In this article we are going to discuss which is the most interesting depending on what we want to spend and the use we are going to give it. Kindle by 107.99 eurosa basic model that stands out above all for its price. Kindle Colorsoft by 194.99 eurosAmazon’s eReader with a color screen. Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition by 224.99 eurosa model similar to the previous one with added functions and better features. Kindle Scribe (2022) by 264.99 eurosa slightly older eReader but just as interesting as the rest of this list. Kindle Scribe (2024) by 349.99 eurosthe latest generation of its range. Other Kindles that are not on sale. Kindle If you want a Kindle to read occasionally and are only looking for a basic experience at a not very high price, the best purchase option is the same Kindle. It incorporates a six-inch glare-free screen and its size is small to take on a trip. Its theoretical autonomy is up to six weeks and it comes with 16 GB of storage. Bad is that with this model we lose the adjustable warm light, the automatic front light adjustment (it can be done manually) and the water resistance. The good is that it costs 107.99 euros. Kindle (latest generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Kindle Colorsoft Maybe the Kindle Colorsoft It is not the most suitable eReader for reading comics given its seven-inch size, but it is interesting to take advantage of the color screen to underline text in various colors and differentiate dialogues between various characters. Or to see the covers and color illustrations. With all this, it is focused on those people who prefer to add a touch of color in these situations and who can spend a little more money on a reader. Bad: It does not have wireless charging or automatic front light adjustment. The good: its price 194.99 euros It is quite tight, it is waterproof, its theoretical autonomy reaches 12 weeks of use and the frames are tighter than on the basic Kindle. In this sense, it is smaller in height, but wider and a little thinner. Kindle Colorsoft (latest generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition On the other hand, Amazon has a more complete model of its eReader with a color screen called Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition. It has exactly the same dimensions and the same specifications, with a couple of additions: it incorporates automatic front light adjustment and comes with wireless charging. Bad: its price 224.99 euros is higher than that of the basic model. If we are not going to use its two additions, it is advisable to opt for the other eReader. The good: It is a more complete eReader and the price difference right now is not excessively large. Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition (latest generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Kindle Scribe (2022) He Kindle Scribe Launched in 2022, it will not be the most recent eReader in its range, but Amazon continues to sell it at a fairly competitive price. The most notable thing is the format, since we are talking about a reader with 10.2 inch screen. It is aimed at readers of digital books, but also for those people who like to take notes of certain dialogues or just to take notes. It includes a pencil and its theoretical autonomy is up to 12 weeks of use. Its price is 264.99 euros. Bad: It weighs quite a bit (433 grams), so it is not the most suitable for traveling. Furthermore, it is not waterproof either. The good: It is quite practical if what we are looking for is a screen that covers more text with a larger size. It is also if we want to take notes. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Kindle Scribe (2024) He Kindle Scribe Launched in 2024, it does have some interesting additions, but as we will mention later, it does without others. It maintains the same format as its previous generation by having a 10.2-inch screen and also includes a stylus. As in the previous model, it is oriented for use at home and for taking notes. Its price on Amazon is 349.99 euros and in MediaMarkt of 329.99 euros. Bad: Its weight is 433 grams and it is not waterproof nor does it come with wireless charging. The good: It is available in various storage configurations, its theoretical autonomy is up to 12 weeks of use and incorporates artificial intelligence functions to summarize text or notes. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Other Kindles The Kindle Paperwhite is one of the most popular eReaders in each generation due to its quality-price ratio, but neither of them are on sale. Its use is aimed at people looking for a better reading experience and that they tend to read quite frequently. It is also ideal to take on a trip even if its size is larger than that of the Kindle. He Kindle Paperwhite costs 169 euros and it has a seven-inch screen. In addition, it incorporates adjustable warm light, water resistance, incorporates 16 GB of internal storage and its autonomy is up to 12 weeks of use. He Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition costs 199 euros and, in addition to what its basic model already includes, it comes with automatic front light adjustment, wireless charging and 32 GB of internal storage. Kindle Paperwhite (latest generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (latest generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | amazon In Xataka | Which Kindle to … Read more

If you really want to understand China (and how it sees the future), it’s easy: read its five-year plans

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Today’s China bears little resemblance to that of the mid-20th century, when in the time of Mao Zedong the People’s Republic decided to promote its first five year plan. ran the year 1953 and the country was preparing for the Great Leap Forwardan attempt at industrial modernization that ended with a famine with tragic consequences. Since then China has chained almost uninterrupted five-year plans, documents that help understand its evolution. Its reading is interesting now that the Central Committee of the Communist Party has launched the machinery to provide a plan for 2026-2030. Playing short or long term? On Monday Isaac Stone Fish, founder of Strategy Risk, opened a debate interesting in X: What horizon does China use when drawing up strategies? Do you focus on the long term or do you think only a few years ahead? It is not a minor issue. Stone himself brought up the subject a video released by the White House, the fragment of an interview granted by Trump to CBS in which it was pointed out that the Chinese “are playing the long game.” Click on the image to go to the tweet. “A recommended read”. “Let’s stop saying that the Chinese are playing the long game. This is orientalist nonsense that we must eradicate from our discourse with China. Read the Five Year Plan from five years ago and you will see how different China has become from what its leaders predicted. The Chinese think, like the rest of the people, mainly about the challenges they will face today and in the years to come,” claims the analyst, who assures that long-term speeches have other purposes, such as the party’s self-reaffirmation. He is not the only one who believes it. “If you are interested in reality, read the Chinese five-year plans. They are instructive,” slid another user in X. “Read a plan from five years ago. It is recommended.” But what are five-year plans? Economic and social guides, five-year guidelines that the Chinese authorities set for themselves and that basically set objectives in terms of development, industry, innovation or well-being. Also the paths to reach them. The first dates back to 1953 and since then they have been happening (with almost no pauses) with greater or lesser success, but exerting a key influence on the national evolution of the last 70 years. In fact it is not strange to hear that the turning point in China’s modern development came in 1978, with the economic reform promoted by Deng Xiaoping, which was followed shortly after by a five-year plan for the period 1981-1985. “A macro guideline”. “The five-year plan serves as a way for leaders to take stock, examine challenges and tasks, set directions and move forward. It must be followed closely, as strategic thinking and planning have become a rarity among governments,” They explain to EFE Nomura analysts. “It is a macro-level instruction or guideline for the market to know, including investors, state-owned enterprises and the public, to have the correct expectation of what government policy will be in the future,” comment in AP Li Lun, professor at Peking University. Its role is important because, as remember Neil Thomasresearcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute, marks a key difference with Europe or the US “Western politics operates through electoral cycles, but Chinese policymaking operates through planning cycles.” In the focus. That the Chinese five-year plans are being talked about right now is no coincidence. The country is immersed in the preparation of the new roadmap that will mark its steps until 2030, a complex scenario marked by the real estate crisishe weakening of domestic consumptionthe trade tensionshe youth unemployment or the aging of the population, among other challenges. A few days ago the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party met behind closed doors to talk about the new five-year plan, a document that will not be approved until March 2026but the one that Beijing wanted advance some keys. Among other goals, the technological self-sufficiencymaintain at a level “reasonable” of manufacturing and raise life expectancy up to the 80 years. Why is it important? Because although there is still a long way to go for the approval of the new five-year plan, in the past this roadmap has been key to understanding the priorities of the Chinese Government. Also in its development. At the end of October Nick Mash published an analysis on the BBC in which he details three occasions in which the plans have influenced the world economy: the reformist and opening trend of 1981-1984, the commitment to “strategic emerging industries” during 2011-2015 and “high-quality development” (2021-2025). Images | Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra (Unsplash) and Chinese Communist Party In Xataka | Xi Jinping wants two things: first, to create a global center that regulates AI. The second, that it is in Shanghai

Statistics tell us that we read more than before. The problem is that books are much simpler than a few years ago

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It is not the same to read much than reading well, just as not all books are the same. Some of these conclusions can be taken from a series of recently published statistics and that analyze reading habits both in the United States and Spain. Interestingly, trends in Spain seem to contradict those of the rest of the world, but … is positive news? Global descent. Antonio Ortiz told In his Newsletter ‘Causes and Azares’ that there has been a global decrease in the Reading habits. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US, the time dedicated to reading for pleasure fell 23 minutes in 2003 to 15 minutes in 2018, 40%, and the trend continued to reduce up to only 16% of the population that reads daily in 2023, as explained by the New York Times in Spanish. In the United Kingdom, the National Literacy Trust He found that in 2023 only 47% of adolescents said they regularly read for enjoyment, lowering 60% in 2005. The Iberian contrast. In Spain the data are more positive: the 2024 reading habits of the Ministry of Culture of Spain It indicates that 65.5% of readers do so by leisure, which represents the highest percentage in historical series. And 70.3% read books in general. In addition, for age stripes, 14 to 24 years represents the greatest readers (82.1%), while the indices fall in over 55 years, indicating that a habit of reading in young people who will give a more reader adult population is being found. Does that perspective make sense, are hopeful data for reading in Spain? Reasons to doubt. These data can be inflated by social bias: when responding to surveys, people tend to overreport Activities considered “educated” how to readand surpassed those perceived as “banal”, such as watching television and spending time with the mobile. And why do we doubt? Because the social prestige of reading is still in force (as reflected The controversy with María Pombo), and recent measurements, such as Eurobarometer 2025They talk that Spain is one of the European countries where more people link reading with being “more cultured and intelligent”, which probably explains some inflation in the answers. Shorter phrases, simpler readings. For example, as Ortiz also points out, ‘The Economist’ has detected that the vocabulary and grammatical structure of the Best-Sellers They have been simplified between the thirties and today: The phrases are 30% shorter due to the least amount of subordinate sentences. And there are more: academic investigations such as the COH-Metrix Project of the University of Memphis have measured that the average readability of the current best-seller equals the level High School Junior (16-17 years), while in the sixties and seventies it was closer to the initial university level (COH-Metrix). On the school level, data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that the active vocabulary of written adolescents has been reduced compared to decades ago. And, finally, essays like ‘Reader, eat home’ Maryanne Wolf warns how fragmented reading in digital media impoverishes the capacity for deep reading. We presume more than we read. If we combine these data with others, which tell us that the UNESCO esteem that only 5% of the population read a book per month or that 40.3% of Spaniards declares never read or almost nevera constant figure in the last decade, we find a certainly contradictory situation. We like to presume that we read, but they are perhaps fattened by our own perception. And in addition, they are readings of a complexity much lower than that of a few decades ago. With readers like that, who needs María Pombo. Header | Clay Banks in Unspash In Xataka | Alatriste’s new book revalidates a throne that remains empty: Pérez-Reverte has created our most popular franchise

The influencer María Pombo defends her right to not read. And incidentally, raises an interesting controversy about habits

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The latest statements by María Pombo (influencer pioneer With great impact on the fashion world and more than three million followers on Instagram, where its empire of family spin-offs to kardashian and ramifications of all kinds) have made half the Internet Hispano Clame: “influencer To your influences“. Some unexpected and reckless reflections on reading habits have put it in the eye of the hurricane, but they have also placed an important issue on the table: is it so necessary to cultivate the reading habit? María Pombo does not read (almost). That has recognized in A video on Tiktiok To respond to a user who criticized the bookcase he had shown in a previous video. “The bookstore is precious. But if it were full of books that have been read, it would be much more. Now I see only,” said the commentator. Pombo has tried to defend himself with a “I will say it: I think you have to start overcoming that there are people who do not like to read. And you are not better because you like to read” And he adds: “They all instilled the reading at some point in our lives, and we all had to try, but there are people who like and people who do not.” And he puts his two sisters as an example: “I have one that is also influencer and devours books; And yet my other sister, That is a pilotone has not read in his life, I believe. ”Of course, the criticisms that have multiplied in successive videoswhere Pombo has taught, to exculp Influencers His friends. The inheritance chases her, but she is faster. Paradoxically, and this is a detail without more importance than underlining the irony of the situation, María Pombo is a great -great -grandson of the novelist, journalist and translator Santanderina Concha Espinawhich in 1926 was about to win the Nobel. And it is also familiar (distant, yes) of the Cervantes 2024 AwardÁlvaro Pombo, grandson of Maria Pombo’s great -grandson, The designer Ana de Pombo. Without a doubt, a singular and respectable lineage for someone who has generated a controversy right in the opposite direction. María Pombo is the symptom. Without a doubt, the most conflictive statement of María Pombo is one that says that “you are not better because you like to read.” It gives off a anti-intellectual thinking that engages perfectly with the current era: We live counter-cilestized timesthat foster a vision in which each cultural or social group claims its own “truth” exclusive, which makes it difficult to dialogue and critical thinking. The Emotions -based policy and post -truththat normalize the lie, manipulation and extreme polarization, make communication less truthful and the least valued rigorous thinking. All this encourages Simplist and conspiracy speeches derived from … people read less. Force or respect. The important thing is that the attitude of María Pombo puts on the table a conflictive issue: should we force the taste for reading or respect the variety of interests? An issue that has generated academic positions of all kinds. For example, A 2024 study It emphasizes that reading habits, influenced by the interests and self -efficacy of the student, are positively related to the development of cognitive skills. However, Another 2023 study That reviews the relationship between reading habits, study skills and academic success, indicates that intrinsic preference and motivation are key, and that imposing rigid readings can be counterproductive. In general, we all agree (even María Pombo, even if he does not express it with total clarity): Reading is an intellectual activity of positive effects. But it is also true that the creation of environments rich in reading stimuli are necessary to develop the reading habit. A 2020 study He talked about the fact that the variety and freedom in the choice foster the interest than the imposition, and that position seems to defend Pombo. Let each one do what they want is important, but you don’t have to lose sight of what results objectively more beneficial. Header | Prime video In Xataka | Alatriste’s new book revalidates a throne that remains empty: Pérez-Reverte has created our most popular franchise

There is an ereader that has everything I am looking for to read books in digital format. And it’s no Kindle

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Although my ereader (Kobo Clara 2E) Stay perfectly, many times I review which are the current models that can interest me the most to read in digital format. There is much to choose frombut I have it very clear (and it is no Kindle): to buy a ereader right now, without a doubt it would be the Kobo Libra Color. * Some price may have changed from the last review A very complete ereader What does he have Kobo Libra Color What interests me so much? Well, the truth is that enough things. First, it comes with a seven -inch screen that has screen rotation to read vertically or horizontally. In addition, it is compatible with the Kobo Stylus 2, which allows you to take notes in any digital book (a function that I use a lot). Another interesting point is that its screen is color. I do not recommend much to choose this specific model to read comics or magazines – that is why a screen of at least eight inches is better. On the other hand, the most useful point that I see on its color screen is that you can take notes with different colors “Very useful to use a color for each character in a book.” Another thing that interests me most is the way to use. I do not like to depend solely on the screen to pass the pages – it gets dirty and, at least in my case, sometimes when my finger slides my ereader detects as if the zoom of the page had increased. In this case, the screen can be used, but also the Two physical buttons that are found on the right side (or left for left -handed people). Among other things, the Kobo Libra Colour comes with 32 GB of internal storage (more than enough to save many digital books), has blue light reduction, includes its own book store, is water resistant (IPX8 certification), its battery offers an autonomy of weeks, It is compatible with audiobooks And also with Google Drive and Dropbox. It is, without any doubt, a very complete ereader. You may also interest you Kobo Fonda For Libra Color Libra | Black Notebook | Sleep/Wake technology | Integrated 2 -way support | Vegan skin | Compatible with 7 -inch Ereader Kobo Libra Color * Some price may have changed from the last review * Some price may have changed from the last review Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Images | Rakuten, Kobo In Xataka | Best electronic books. Which to buy and nine recommended models In Xataka | Kindle Colorsooft vs Kobo Libra Color. What ereader with color screen chose according to your tastes and needs

If you also feel that you do not have so much time to read as you would like, there is a solution: the “fast reading”

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I confess that Bill Gates gives me some healthy envy. Not just to have A current account which looks like a phone number with so many figures, but for its ability to Read more than 50 books a year. I have tried and it has been impossible for me. But Do not shoot the towel. Scientific evidence revealsthat there is a balance point between the speed of reading and the ability to understand and retention of the content that is being read. However, with adequate practice, that balance can be improved by accelerating the reading speed without compromising Reading understanding. Research Like those of the University of Guayaquil, they conclude that the reading speed can increase significantly with the practice and use of appropriate techniques. An average reader reads between 200 and 400 words per minute, while through rapid reading training, that speed can reach speeds of up to 1,000 or 1,700 words per minute. Strike a balance Fast reading is especially useful for processing long texts superficially, being useful for obtaining general ideas or punctual information. It is not recommended in contexts where a deep understanding, detailed analysis or memorization of the content is required, but when it comes to seeking specific information or in texts that address subjects of which previous knowledge is already had. The main ones involved in a slow reading speed are: Subvocalization: It is the habit of mentally pronouncing the words that are read. That limits the reading speed since the visual image of the word that interprets the brain is vocalized as if you are reading aloud, undergoing the need to vocalize each of the words and not limit itself to the compression of it. Word reading by word: The global understanding of the text decreases. Regression: reread several times or have to search in the next line of text as it breaks the reading flow. Low concentration: It affects both speed and retention. Quick Reading Techniques Science reveals that this speed increase is not a magical process, but the result of the conscious training of eye movements, vocabulary expansion and the use of strategies to improve global understanding, and not only the amount of words read per minute. 1. Fragmentation This technique is to avoid reading word by word and assimilating the Words by groups. For example, to start training, you can group the words of the phrases of two by two and increase the number progressively With practice. At first it may be a bit strange, but the brain recognizes the words for its morphology, which explains, for example, that you Cberreo Pdeue Read Etse Txeto. If you read it Word A Word would cost you more than in block because a word contextualizes its adjacent. This principle makes your view jump between words, not word in word during reading. The usual thing is to start reading like this:In-a-place-of-the-scan-of-whose-name-no-quiero-alleging But with a little practice, we soon start reading like this: ANDn a place-of the stain-of whose name-I do not want to remember With proper training, the number of “pauses” is reduced: In a place in the stain-of whose name I do not want to remember. 2. Use a visual guide The rupture of the reading flow is one of the most frequent causes for reading the reading. This usually happens when you have difficulty finding the following text line. The solution: as simple as using the finger to indicate the start of the next text line or an equivalent visual guide. On screens you can use the mouse pointer as a guide. If you prefer Read on mobiles or tablets, the edge the screen or any other reference can contribute to the view not to hesitate when looking for the next line and the reading inertia is maintained. 3. Be faster than voice If when you read you listen to the words in your brain, you are not reading quick enough. As we have said before, this phenomenon is known as subvocalization. To avoid this, it will be necessary to train the reading speed trying to read faster than that inner voice is able to vocalize. In doing so, it will be forcing the brain to prioritize visual processing instead of the “auditory” of your internal voice, thus improving the reading speed. 4. Infinite look Like any other muscle, ocular muscles should also be exercised to improve reading speed. One way to improve your performance is to practice infinity to get a visual sweep of the most efficient text. This technique consists in drawing the infinity symbol (∞) on the text block, so that the look runs in a more global way, not line by line, and improves the capture of words by blocks. In Xataka | The productivity books that have helped me the most: the recommendations of the Xataka editors Image | Unspash (Thought catog, Eliott Reyna)

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