Against dystopian views of high-speed audiobook listening

There was recently a thread on r/slatestarcodex about “What life hacks are actually life changing”. One of the examples given was:

Bbb: Audio books help people consume many more books than they otherwise would, and listening to them in place of podcasts on commutes or during the types of workouts where listening is feasible is generally a good thing. Though there are certainly some fun podcasts.

Ccc: But you retain far less information. So it’s just so your mind is busy with something and doesn’t have to deal with existential crisis

You think you’re giving out helpful tips for internet friends? Haha, no, you’re inviting a review of your intelligence and philosophical outlook! It’s like a cute little bunny prancing through the forest until a piano suddenly falls from the sky.

Of course, “person on internet is mean” isn’t much of a story. (Ask me about my emails after I suggested that maybe Julian Assange isn’t the most admirable human being ever.) And anyway, everyone was fine other than Aaa.

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