时评人詹姆斯·马里奥特近期出版著作《新黑暗时代》，深入探讨现代社会识字率下降的现象与后果 1。该书指出，电视和智能手机等技术正在逐步削弱人们的阅读习惯和注意力，最终威胁政治话语质量和民主制度 1。
识字率衰退的迹象在数据中清晰可见。1944年的调查表明，近三分之二的技术工人和近一半的非技术工人成长于书籍充足的家庭 1；而到了20世纪末，1969年后出生的大学毕业生的阅读量已少于1950年前出生的基础教育水平者 1。这一转变与电视等新技术的普及密不可分——1948年美国仅1%的家庭拥有电视，但到1954年这一比例已超过50% 1。到1995年，美国人40%的闲余时间用于看电视 1。挪威的一项研究进一步证实了屏幕时间的危害，显示有线电视每覆盖一年，智商便下降0.08分 1。
当今社会的问题愈加严峻。平均每人每天查看手机144次 1，这种频繁的"刷屏"行为已成为新的常态。书中以文化现象佐证这一衰退：《纽约客》的一篇短篇故事在2017年曾被百万人阅读并引发广泛讨论，但仅仅9年后，这样的现象已不可能再次发生 1。马里奥特通过大量数据和历史对比，论证识字率的衰退标志着启蒙时代的反转 1。
Commentator James Marriott has published a new book titled "The New Dark Age," which examines the declining literacy rates in modern society and their far-reaching consequences 1. The work argues that technologies such as television and smartphones have weakened people's reading habits and attention spans, thereby degrading the quality of political discourse and threatening democratic institutions 1. Through extensive data and historical comparisons, Marriott contends that the erosion of literacy represents a reversal of the Enlightenment era 1.
The author draws on historical evidence to illustrate this transformation. A 1944 survey found that nearly two-thirds of skilled workers and almost half of unskilled workers grew up in homes with extensive book collections 1. However, the advent of television rapidly reshaped leisure patterns: while only 1% of American households owned a television in 1948, this figure surpassed 50% by 1954 1. By 1995, Americans devoted 40% of their leisure time to watching television 1. Research from Norway demonstrates an association between cable television coverage and cognitive decline, with each additional year of coverage correlating to an average IQ drop of 0.08 points 1. In contemporary times, the average person checks their mobile phone 144 times daily 1.
The consequences for intellectual engagement have been measurable. College graduates born after 1969 read significantly less than individuals with only basic education born before 1950 1. A New Yorker short story reached millions of readers in 2017 through widespread discussion, yet such cultural penetration of literary content would be impossible nine years later 1.
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