The United States is entering a "postliterate" era characterized by a rapid decline in deep reading and shrinking attention spans [1].

This shift suggests a fundamental change in how humans process information. As digital platforms replace long-form text, the ability to engage with complex narratives and arguments may vanish, potentially ending a cognitive era that lasted millennia.

Author and speaker Rose Horowitch said the current state of society is "postliterate," meaning people are still surrounded by words but no longer reading them deeply [3]. Horowitch said this transition is a civilization shift and suggested that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history [1].

According to Horowitch, humans first began to read about 6,000 years ago [1]. The transition away from this practice is driven by the rise of the internet and digital platforms, which erode the capacity for sustained focus [2].

Reports indicate that the average human attention span may now be mere seconds [2]. This decline in focus is linked to the design of digital media, which prioritizes rapid consumption over deep comprehension [2].

Horowitch said, "I think that we’re living through a civilization shift on that scale" [1]. The crisis is observed primarily in the U.S. but is expected to spread globally as digital media becomes the dominant form of information exchange [5].

“the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history”

The transition to a postliterate society represents a shift from linear, deep-processing cognition to fragmented, rapid-fire information consumption. If deep reading is lost, the ability to engage with complex historical, legal, and philosophical texts may diminish, fundamentally altering how citizens interact with governance and critical thinking.