The Subtle Differences Between Reading, Listening and Watching

It’s not just about taste.

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This morning I wondered (again) why we still read written words.

Considering the developments there have been in mediums like audios, images, videos, games since the time of old writers whom I prefer to read, I habitually ask this question because they aren’t there to answer it for me!

Is it because of the habit of the readers, tradition or is there something special in writing and reading that has made this medium of expression so persistent?

To understand what is going on, I created a table with three columns and infinite rows. In the first column I wrote Writing-Reading. In the second, Speaking-Listening and in the final Imaging/Watching.

I then decided to conceive a statement that is fundamentally important as an information communicated by us human beings:

The sky is blue today.

First, I wrote that down in the second row of the first column.

Second, I uttered it out loud.

Third, I imagined a blue sky.

If anyone was to communicate this information to another person for amusement, all three of these mediums of communication would work perfectly well. But if the information was crucial, it would depend on the distance between the persons and their context.

• If both/either of us were in a situation where we couldn’t speak/listen, or create visual things/view them, we would be forced to do it through written words.
• If both/either of us were in a situation where we couldn’t write/read, or create visual things/view them, we would be forced to do it through spoken words.
• If both/either of us were in a situation where we couldn’t write/read, or speak/listen, we would be forced to do it through visual creations.

With this assumption in mind, if I wonder (again), why we still write/read words, it could mean the following:

• Both/either of us are in a situation…