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Maryanne Wolf, neuroscientist: ‘Because of screens, we have learned another way of reading that short-circuits the brain’
Neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf argues that reading is a learned skill that builds connections across brain systems, rather than an ability humans are born with. She says the shift from print to digital culture may change how people read, and that preserving deep reading matters because it supports complex thought and creativity.
Wolf describes reading as a circuit linking vision, language, cognition, motor skills and emotion. She says these connections strengthen through practice, invoking the principle “use it or lose it”. Drawing a historical parallel, she notes that ancient Greeks took centuries to move from oral traditions towards written culture after the alphabet emerged around 800 BC.
In short
- Reading builds a network of connections across the brain.
- Wolf warns that reading habits can weaken without practice.
- She compares today’s digital shift with ancient Greece’s move to writing.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Wolf’s argument is that deep reading is a learned practice that exercises connections involved in language, attention, memory and reflection. If digital habits encourage faster, more fragmented reading, regular practice with sustained texts may help preserve capacities that support complex thought and creativity.
The case against
Reading on screens can serve different purposes and need not replace sustained reading; digital texts also give people access to information and can support learning. Claims that screen use broadly weakens deep reading may depend on how people use devices, and the historical shift from oral to written culture suggests reading practices can adapt without simply losing value.
Explained simply
Reading is not an ability people are born with: the brain learns to connect visual symbols with language and meaning. With practice, reading draws on several brain systems, including those involved in thought, movement and emotion.
Maryanne Wolf is a neuroscientist who studies how reading develops and how it affects the brain. She argues that reading on screens can encourage a different style from sustained reading on paper, and that habits shape which reading skills people practise.
The change from oral storytelling to written texts also took time in ancient Greece, after the alphabet emerged around 800 BC. How people read matters because sustained attention to complex texts can support careful thought and creativity.