Reading this essay, I was struck by how closely its central intuitions parallel the work my father, Benjamin K. Hunnicutt, has spent a lifetime developing. What you describe as “research as leisure” maps almost directly onto his historical argument that civilisation does not collapse from ignorance or technological change, but from the loss of protected, non-instrumental time—time in which inquiry, wonder, and inwardness are allowed to remain open rather than being pressed immediately into productivity, signaling, or utility. From an OT perspective, this matters because culture depends on thresholds that slow articulation enough for depth to form. When those thresholds erode, reading persists, information proliferates, but orientation collapses. Your essay is especially strong in naming that distinction without moralising it.
Growing up around my father’s work, I came to understand leisure not as rest or consumption, but as a civilisational condition—one that historically made art, democratic imagination, and shared meaning possible. What your piece adds, beautifully, is a contemporary phenomenology of how that condition is being hollowed out even as “reading” and “writing” accelerate. In that sense, the crisis you diagnose is not the death of the book, but the disappearance of the interior and social space that allows books to do their work. OT would simply sharpen that point by saying: civilisation is not carried by texts alone, but by the orientational structures that keep inquiry open, communal, and non-coercive over time. Your essay stands as a thoughtful contribution to that recovery—not by prescribing orthodoxy, but by restoring the dignity of leisure as a condition for culture itself.
Phenomenal work. had been saving this for some quiet time and it really delivered. I have a friend who embodies this ethic of curiosity and research; he is by far one of the most interesting people I have ever met. His reading does not seem ego driven, but driven by a genuine curiosity and longing for beauty.
The disparaging reference to ADHD brought my reading to a halt. ADHD is curiosity dancing through the world, bringing home treasure. It is the child's delight in rolling down a grassy hill. Does it neglect to put its treasures away? Does it have grass stains on its knees? Of course. It is joy and fun, and where would reading be without that? Sure, other cognitive styles are needed, too. Even the anxious ones worried that reading will disappear.
Fantastic essay, with some critical guiding points made along the way: "self-study must include the discipline’s foundational texts" and "research has to culminate."
Agree with Woolf. I am off OTTs/movies/TV shows/sports and I only read books. One of the most profound changes I have experienced has been a sense of calmness that was missing earlier.
Reading has gone down because of the addictive nature of our phones.
Amateur research is alive still, but often more confined to areas where there isn't a large equipment cost to entry. Software being the major one. A lot of open source I would consider amateur research. Then there are also the online communities you mentioned like reddit, stack overflow, twitter, discord servers, ect.
Because of many years of formal research and amateur, most of the low hanging fruit for discovery is gone. It remains where there is new technology or phenomena.
I do wonder how much amateur research there used to be. My first guess would be not that much. Assuming that most people did not have much leisure time where in they could do this research.
I loved this. It sort of… how do I put it… it crystallised and organised faint notions that have been floating around my head for a while now. And I’m so appreciative of the way it’s written: clean, well-researched, actionable, and gently hopeful despite calling out the flaws in our culture. Also the foundation in Islamic principles? Yeah, I’m going to read this several more times and take notes. Thank you
By the way, that sequence of “In this year, when such and such happened, this author worries about the future of reading” in The Long Century of the Last Reader section was brilliant. How it depicts the passage of time and the… using the rule of three and… yeah my eloquence has run out but that section right there was so shiny and I aspire to use storytelling tools as well as that
Great read. It is notable to mention that "reading" and "reciting" were the same meaning in ancient times due to being the same act. Reading silently was developed in the middle Ages, and even then there are records of (I think St.Ambrose) amazed at watching someone watch pages and turn them without reading aloud. This is very interesting!
Wonderful read! The Quran really did start with read as it is the thing that gets us close to god. It is a wonderful heartwarming thought that makes the universe makes sense
Reading this essay, I was struck by how closely its central intuitions parallel the work my father, Benjamin K. Hunnicutt, has spent a lifetime developing. What you describe as “research as leisure” maps almost directly onto his historical argument that civilisation does not collapse from ignorance or technological change, but from the loss of protected, non-instrumental time—time in which inquiry, wonder, and inwardness are allowed to remain open rather than being pressed immediately into productivity, signaling, or utility. From an OT perspective, this matters because culture depends on thresholds that slow articulation enough for depth to form. When those thresholds erode, reading persists, information proliferates, but orientation collapses. Your essay is especially strong in naming that distinction without moralising it.
Growing up around my father’s work, I came to understand leisure not as rest or consumption, but as a civilisational condition—one that historically made art, democratic imagination, and shared meaning possible. What your piece adds, beautifully, is a contemporary phenomenology of how that condition is being hollowed out even as “reading” and “writing” accelerate. In that sense, the crisis you diagnose is not the death of the book, but the disappearance of the interior and social space that allows books to do their work. OT would simply sharpen that point by saying: civilisation is not carried by texts alone, but by the orientational structures that keep inquiry open, communal, and non-coercive over time. Your essay stands as a thoughtful contribution to that recovery—not by prescribing orthodoxy, but by restoring the dignity of leisure as a condition for culture itself.
brilliant work!!
Phenomenal work. had been saving this for some quiet time and it really delivered. I have a friend who embodies this ethic of curiosity and research; he is by far one of the most interesting people I have ever met. His reading does not seem ego driven, but driven by a genuine curiosity and longing for beauty.
The disparaging reference to ADHD brought my reading to a halt. ADHD is curiosity dancing through the world, bringing home treasure. It is the child's delight in rolling down a grassy hill. Does it neglect to put its treasures away? Does it have grass stains on its knees? Of course. It is joy and fun, and where would reading be without that? Sure, other cognitive styles are needed, too. Even the anxious ones worried that reading will disappear.
Fantastic essay, with some critical guiding points made along the way: "self-study must include the discipline’s foundational texts" and "research has to culminate."
Agree with Woolf. I am off OTTs/movies/TV shows/sports and I only read books. One of the most profound changes I have experienced has been a sense of calmness that was missing earlier.
Reading has gone down because of the addictive nature of our phones.
Amateur research is alive still, but often more confined to areas where there isn't a large equipment cost to entry. Software being the major one. A lot of open source I would consider amateur research. Then there are also the online communities you mentioned like reddit, stack overflow, twitter, discord servers, ect.
Because of many years of formal research and amateur, most of the low hanging fruit for discovery is gone. It remains where there is new technology or phenomena.
I do wonder how much amateur research there used to be. My first guess would be not that much. Assuming that most people did not have much leisure time where in they could do this research.
I loved this. It sort of… how do I put it… it crystallised and organised faint notions that have been floating around my head for a while now. And I’m so appreciative of the way it’s written: clean, well-researched, actionable, and gently hopeful despite calling out the flaws in our culture. Also the foundation in Islamic principles? Yeah, I’m going to read this several more times and take notes. Thank you
By the way, that sequence of “In this year, when such and such happened, this author worries about the future of reading” in The Long Century of the Last Reader section was brilliant. How it depicts the passage of time and the… using the rule of three and… yeah my eloquence has run out but that section right there was so shiny and I aspire to use storytelling tools as well as that
Great read. It is notable to mention that "reading" and "reciting" were the same meaning in ancient times due to being the same act. Reading silently was developed in the middle Ages, and even then there are records of (I think St.Ambrose) amazed at watching someone watch pages and turn them without reading aloud. This is very interesting!
Wonderful read! The Quran really did start with read as it is the thing that gets us close to god. It is a wonderful heartwarming thought that makes the universe makes sense
Absolutely stunning essay. Thank you.
Beautifully written. Thank you for this!
This would be part of my Heaven.
Thank you for giving my way of life a name, many names, in fact. From now on, "leisurely researcher" will be part of my CV.
This is amazing :)
I can sense divine inspiration in this essay—the content and style are truly beautiful. Thank you for this!