Reading Science: Quick Small Bytes or Deep Critical Thinking?

Kenneth A. Johnson, MVSc, PhD, FACVSc, DACVS, DECVS

With the coming of summer in our part of the world, a favorite Saturday pastime of mine is to spread out the national weekend newspaper to read in the sun. Skipping beyond the lamentable state of world politics and other devastating tragedies, I am drawn to the commentaries about the arts and humanities. What are expert critics and thinkers saying about the new theater productions, art, music, and literature?

Just recently, there was a very thought-provoking article about the importance of reading books—both fiction and non-fiction—requiring deep concentration for long periods. Americans are the most prolific readers; on average, they read 17 books per year. America is closely followed in this regard by India, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. Although that adds up to a very great number of books being read, not everybody is a reader. For example, a 2023 survey found that more than 25% of Australians did not read a single book that year. Although this statistic varies by country, there has been a worldwide downward trend in the reading of books. This decline in book readership is more evident among younger adults than the older generation. Devoting many hours of time while concentrating on reading books has become a last-century pastime. It is argued that not only are we reading less, but also thinking less. This is the central theme of a new book by Parker and Morrison.[1]

According to the educational specialists, young people cannot concentrate on reading long-form books, understand complex ideas, or process the disagreement of an argument. To follow a line of thought requires considerable reasoning. Consequently, we are being urged by the educational gurus to adapt our teaching style to suit the new “learning style” of the younger generation. We are told to re-package the old-style lecture format into small bites with several learning objectives as bullet points, and to avoid overly complex content and in-depth background discussion.

This change in the learning style has been linked to the universal adoption of the smartphone over the past 15 years. Smartphone users may spend hours endlessly scrolling through a diet of addictive content being served up by the tech companies. There are concerns that this endless scrolling of social media is associated with reading less and discouraging thinking, not just by the young.

No doubt, if you have managed to maintain concentration to read this far down the editorial, you are beginning to wonder what in the world any of this has to do with veterinary orthopaedics. Veterinary orthopaedics is not any different from other specialties and professions. It is complex and multilayered, and decision-making requires deep thinking and critical analysis of all the evidence. The validity of evidence must be weighed, especially nowadays, with so much fake truth being propagated. Making diagnoses and formatting plans requires more than a list of bullet points.

Reading a scientific paper should encompass much more than noting some bullet points from the abstract. The discussion of a well-written scientific paper should explain how the findings answer the proposed aim or hypothesis, or address the gap in our knowledge. It should discuss how the new findings support or challenge the existing thinking about this gap, within the limitations of the study protocol. To develop skills in critical thinking about complex issues requires work and practice. The brain is like a muscle; it needs to be exercised by reading more books and thinking critically to keep it working well. Neuroscientists say that the number of neurons in the brain does not change, but the connections or synapses increase with the practice of concentrated reading, either fiction or non-fiction books. These can be books that are not necessarily related at all to our professional topics. It is all about developing thinking skills, not just remembering the factual content.

Publication History

Article published online:
11 November 2025

• Reference

• 1 Parker M, Morrison F. Thinking for yourself. How to sharpen your ideas, decisions, arguments and views. Sydney: Ventura Press; 2025