This country is paying its people to read. Can it stop brain rot?
- Singapore this month launched a novel five-year national campaign to nurture reading habits, with the National Library Board using a gamified points system to combat "brain rot" from online doomscrolling.
- Educators are struggling to battle shrinking attention spans and a perceived decline in cognitive abilities blamed on shallow online content, as global reading scores among United States 15-year-olds have plunged.
- Readers earn virtual coins for daily 15-minute sessions, requiring 50 days to earn $1, while a parallel charity drive aims to garner 7.5 million reading minutes to raise up to $118,300.
- Ashley Chia, who runs a book club, and risk analyst Isaac Neo support the initiative as a helpful "nudge," while principal clinical psychologist Charissa Ng cautions that financial incentives may undermine long-term intrinsic motivation.
- The NLB aims to build a nation of curious readers, though research suggests monetary incentives may reduce a person's natural desire to continue reading once rewards disappear.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Singapore is trying to convince people to leave the phone aside and open a book. The authorities have launched a national campaign through which citizens receive small financial rewards if they read at least 15 minutes a day. The program will run for five years and aims to turn reading into a habit, through a system similar to those of ... The post Country that pays its citizens to read. An attempt to combat "brainpowering appeared first on spot…
When he saw book readership rates falling to alarming levels, he decided to act to save the situation.
Singapore is launching a national campaign that is trying to convince people to read more, giving them little financial rewards for the time spent with a book, trying to fight addiction to online content.
In the age of Reels and short videos, Singapore has adopted a unique approach to get people back to books. Reading a book for 15 minutes earns virtual coins, which can then be converted into cash.
Whether it's waiting for the train or a relaxing break, alone, at a café, a small nation in South-East Asia pushes its citizens towards an increasingly difficult habit: reading, writes CNN.Singapore of...
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