Proust and the Squid: Maryanne Wolf on the science of reading

It’s uncontroversial to say we humans evolved to eat and reproduce. But it would be ridiculous to argue we evolved to read or write—even though reading and writing are clearly consequences of our evolution. So how did we end up with these abilities? Maryanne Wolf, a cognitive neuroscientist and literature aficionado, confronts this question in her excellent book Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain.

According to Wolf, reading and writing became possible thanks to three characteristics of the human brain.

• Plasticity: Also known as neuroplasticity, the brain can change or shape itself by rearranging old structures into new circuits. This is what happens whenever we learn a new task.
• Specialization: When the brain learns a new task, its newly organized neurons and circuits become specialized for that task.
• Automaticity: With enough practice, these specialized neurons (or “representations”) retrieve information at automatic rates of speed—as short as milliseconds.

From Proust to the squid

These three characteristics form what Wolf calls the “evolutionary perspective on the reading brain” (p 170). By rearranging older visual areas of the brain (plasticity) to represent sounds and meanings as letters and symbols (specialization), we learn the automatic skill of reading (automaticity).

Hence, the title of Wolf’s book, Proust and the Squid, which serves as a two-fold metaphor. The squid (a shape shifting animal) symbolizes brain plasticity (how the brain changes or shapes itself to learn new tasks).

Proust (that is, Marcel Proust, the great French novelist) represents the automatic intelligence that matures after neurons specialize in reading. (Proust is apparently one of Wolf’s favorite writers, and I couldn’t disagree with her choice of using him as an emblem of reading and intelligence.)

So, to recap: When brain plasticity (the squid) gives rise to specialized neurons and automatic intelligence (Proust), we get the reading brain. That, in a nutshell, is the science of reading.

The value of reading

Now that we know how it’s possible to read, we can ask another question: Why do we do it? In other words, what benefit do we get out of reading?

Perhaps it’s because (like Wolf) I’m a bibliophile, but what I find so valuable about Proust and the Squid is how Wolf so thoroughly tackles this question. To answer it, she surveys the history of reading, from the ancient Egypt to modern civilization. Each generation, Wolf shows, has the ability to build upon the intellectual accomplishments of the last, especially when reading and writing are part of the culture.

Why should that be the case? Obviously, reading and writing allow us to record ideas for progeny. However, in addition to preserving knowledge, writing our thoughts down and reading them over and over again nudges us to analyze and think through ideas very carefully. In this sense, reading and writing tools are technologies that enhance the mind’s capacity to focus and think deliberately.

At least, that’s true when we read print. Is it also true when we read screens?

Print reading vs. screen reading

Up until the last century, we read print—e.g., paper, manuscripts, and books. More recently, we’re reading screens—e.g., tablet computers, laptops, and smart devices. Do these screens help or hinder the ability to read?

Well, it depends how you define reading. In general, there are two kinds. One is focused, deliberate reading—a.k.a. slow or deep reading. This kind of reading differs from unfocused, hurried reading—a.k.a. speed or shallow reading, such as skimming or scanning.

As Wolf is well aware, there are numerous studies showing that print media like books work better for deep reading, while shallow reading is what we’re inclined to do on screens. When we read books, we tend to read in a focused, deliberate way (deep reading). When we read screens, we typically skim or scan (shallow reading).

Given the difference, it’s reasonable to ask: If we replace books with screens, will we condition our brains to read in a shallow, as opposed to deep, way?

The future of reading

Presuming the answer is yes, why care if deep reading is endangered? In particular, old-school literary enthusiasts like me are worried that a loss of deep reading will mean a loss of deep thinking: the capacity to focus and, as teachers say, “read between the lines.” If we lose the ability to read deeply, we may stymie our capacity to think deeply as well—that is, in a focused, deliberate manner.

As I read Proust and the Squid, I realized Wolf shares this concern.

What is being lost and what is being gained for so many young people who have largely replaced books with the multidimensioned “continuous partial attention” culture of the Internet?  What are the implications of seemingly limitless information for the revolution of the reading brain and for us as a species?  Does the rapid, almost instantaneous presentation of expansive information threaten the more time-demanding formation of in-depth knowledge? (p 22).

Thus, toward the end of her book, I found myself wholeheartedly agreeing with her conclusion.

I fear that many of our children are in danger of becoming just what Socrates warned us against—a society of decoders of information, whose false sense of knowing distracts them from a deeper development of their intellectual potential (p 226).

Of course, I’m curious how many others share this fear too. Feel free to leave any thoughts in a comment below, or check out other Recommended Reading on this site.

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References

Wolf, Maryanne. (2007). Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. New York: Harper Perennial.