Doomscrolling Ourselves to Death
The Digital Descent: Doomscrolling Ourselves to Death
By Ed West | Wrong Side of History
I am certainly not the only parent currently plagued by anxiety regarding the digital consumption habits of their children. For adolescent boys, "entertainment" is frequently synonymous with YouTube. To an adult, the platform appears to be a wasteland of slack-jawed faces and "creative" endeavors that defy logic.
The Evolution of Mindlessness
Consider the shift in what we define as "low-brow" content:
| Era | Typical "Mindless" Content | Perceived Complexity |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | Standard Television | Dostoevsky (by modern standards) |
| 2020s | Diet Coke & Mentos Baths / Microwaves cemented to heads | Minimal to None |
The most alarming trend, however, is the steady evaporation of reading habits. What began as a casual observation among parents has evolved into a shared worry, and finally, a full-blown panic. It is evident that we are witnessing a systemic failure.
The Prophet of the New Dark Ages
Every era of decline requires a "Jeremiah"—a voice warning of the coming storm. For our current crisis, we have James Marriott. A columnist for The Times, Marriott first sounded the alarm in a viral Substack post regarding the erosion of literacy. He has since expanded these concerns into his new book, The New Dark Ages.
While I avoid the word "urgent" (which often serves as a code for "ideological scolding"), the book is an engaging, witty, and coherent argument spanning roughly words.
A Literary Upbringing
James and I have bonded over a shared, profound pessimism. Though some might view the media as a mere "circle-jerk" of mutual admiration, Marriott's prose reveals a man of genuine intellect and charm, albeit one who feels born into the wrong century. His childhood would seem as mythical to today's youth as the works of Boethius seemed to Alfred the Great.
"Literature was our religion: the way we explained and interpreted our lives. As a child I quickly learned that every possible event — from a major bereavement to a minor playground contretemps — could be cross-referenced against a novel by Thomas Hardy or a poem by Philip Larkin."
Marriott's home was a sanctuary of the written word:
- Shakespeare was the center of the pantheon (essentially the "God" of their literary world).
- Traditions included annual homemade cakes for Shakespeare's birthday.
- Pilgrimages were made to Stratford-upon-Avon.
- Gifts included Shakespeare-themed teddy bears wearing Hamlet t-shirts.
Tracking the Decline
The realization that literacy was slipping away didn't happen overnight. It followed a specific trajectory:
- Initial whispers from academic circles.
- Marriott's own flirtation with a PhD on post-war British poetry landscape imagery.
- Hard data confirming a drop in reading comprehension.
- A sharp decline in reading for pleasure among both adults and children.
The Postman Hypothesis
Marriott posits that the root of this transformation lies in the rise of television, echoing the warnings of Neil Postman in his 1985 work, Amusing Ourselves to Death.
Postman was dismissed as a Luddite or a crank, but history has proven him to be a prophet.
A Brief History of Literacy
To understand where we are going, Marriott looks at where we have been. Literacy is not a constant; it fluctuates.
- The 12th Century: A slow recovery of literacy began in Northern Italy.
- The Printing Press: This sparked a rapid rise, though early publishers were often over-optimistic.
- Example: Two Roman publishers in the 15th century wrote to Pope Sixtus IV because they had printed 20,000 books they
couldn't sell.
- Example: Two Roman publishers in the 15th century wrote to Pope Sixtus IV because they had printed 20,000 books they
- Protestantism: The drive to read the Bible increased literacy. In Sweden, the Lutheran Church went so far as to forbid the illiterate from marrying.
- The Enlightenment: This created a "republic of letters" and fostered a deep sense of human empathy.
The Empathy Engine
The true tragedy of the "New Dark Ages" is the loss of the empathy that reading provides. Books allow us to inhabit the minds of people we would otherwise ignore or dismiss.
- Class Transcendence: Wealthy men reading Pamela were forced to engage with the internal life of a serving girl.
- Racial Transcendence: Readers of Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative experienced the horror of being stolen from home and packed into slave ships.
By abandoning the book, we are not just losing a skill; we are losing the ability to see the soul of the "other."
