So the system is so broken that the emotional value of a slight chance that certain individuals could personally beat that system must be preserved at all cost, rather than fix anything.

I’ve made no such argument at all. I’m trying to reflect on why reading feels different to me than an audiobook, and what value each brings.

The original statement “audiobooks are reading” makes a different point than “audiobooks are valuable and important”, and seems worth reflecting on.

Absolutely. Which is why I’ve written everything in the first person :) — I enter a different headspace when I’m reading than listening, or writing, or drawing, and I want to understand how each affects me differently. We need multiple paths to deliver information.

Great point — I often do both for a book I love. When I read, I study, highlight, re-read, and save favorite pieces. When I listen it just flows. Both are worthwhile.

I love audiobooks but I think one of the fundamentals of reading is that you go at your own pace. Reading moves at the speed of your mind / mood. We constantly re-read words, sentences, paragraphs without realizing it. An audiobook makes all those decisions for you.