In Search of Lost Time

Teaching classical political philosophy today, I somehow felt like I belong to a different and bygone world. As all my literary references fell flat, I could not help thinking that if this is the state of reading among university students of social science, what does that say about society at large?

As often, it may be useful to start with oneself. Clearly, I read a lot less today compared to what I did ten or fifteen years ago, finding myself spending way too much time watching running videos or animated “History Matters” documentaries on Youtube, not to mention doomscrolling news on Ukraine or Taiwan, when I know very well that picking up a good book would be much more existentially fulfilling.