Is listening to an audiobook equivalent to reading?

[Kujo Jotaro]

My initial answer is no, for the simple reason that text is taken in via the eyes and audio is taken in via the ears, thus by sheer sensory feedback alone you're processing each differently. I've heard much squaking and squeeling about the poor individuals who can't see, well, tough shit I guess. I don't begrudge them their audiobooks, but I do reject their assertion that they're reading.

 

[Jason Wynn]

No, it’s not reading. Agreed with you.

I don’t mind audiobooks or look down on them. I listen to the occasional one as well while driving. But I don’t tell myself or others I read the book when I clearly didn’t. Just say you’re listening to the audiobook and be honest about it. Why lie about something that fucking petty?

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

No, reading is a distinct skill that hones your linguistic ability. Stuff like reading, writing, and orating helps enable you to articulate yourself more competently.

But who cares, reading is gay and nobody gives a shit what you think or say anyway, so audiobooks are superior because you can expend minimal effort while multitasking.

 

[OrionBalls]

I enjoy them, but no, they are not the same as reading. We get through two sometimes on a longer road trip, but it does not replace the joy of interpreting words on a page and the smell of paper. Blind people have an alphabet, and enjoy the sensation of reading, too. I'm sure they wouldn't argue with you.

 

[Surfin' Biiird]

Until they find a way for me to read books while I'm driving, listening to an audiobook with my full attention while driving is the same thing as reading a book. I tend to process information better and easier auditorily either way.

 

[dick brain]

Just say you’re listening to the audiobook and be honest about it. Why lie about something that fucking petty?

Because "I listened to an audiobook" is five more syllables than "I read a book" and the whole reason I listen to audiobooks in the first place is to multitask because I'm constantly neurotically obsessing over how little time I have before I die and how I'm spending it so why the fuck would I waste my time on five extra syllables that's like 1.2 seconds of my life I'm never getting back.

Duh.

 

[Whoopsie Daisy]

It's the same in my opinion.

Reading is it's own skill, for sure, but it comes down to learning style. If you prefer to read + visualise or listen + visualise. I've enjoyed many walks with an audiobook in one ear - and nature in the other, something I couldn't do with a book.

Listening to Aristotle's 'Art of Rhetoric' is just as hard as reading Aristotle's 'Art of Rhetoric'

 

[SentinentCloud]

i dont need to read nor to listen to audiobooks i can just look at a book cover and with my advanced IQ i can just absorve the information fully

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Until they find a way for me to read books while I'm driving, listening to an audiobook with my full attention while driving is the same thing as reading a book. I tend to process information better and easier auditorily either way.

Electric cars with a self driving mode. Have fun.

 

[Obstacle]

Depending on narration, page size, lettering etc, a 350-odd page book might become a six and a half hour audiobook.
You can't go back and reread a line unless you're a compulsive rewinder, which is less convenient than just scanning back up the page.
Audiobooks give me a far vaguer impression of the subject, probably because it doesn't give you more time to linger on a line than the narrator's cadence allows, and I tend to listen to them in bed, so I rewind to the last point I remember before falling asleep.
It's nice to be told a story, but reading it yourself word for word, and lingering a little where your curiosity pleases is the only way to consume something you intend to study.

 

[Surfin' Biiird]

Electric cars with a self driving mode. Have fun.

If that's the price I have to pay to read furry smut on the interstate...

 

[Turquoise]

Reading is easier because it's done at your own pace. Listening to prose is also very unnatural since people don't talk in long precise, flowery sentences.

I'm not a neuro-boffin but I would guess that audiobooks keeo you on your toes more than reading because they force you to process the information more quickly. Reading, on the other hand, allows for more of an artistic appreciation since you can read a nice sentence several times.