the trips  filled with love & signs.

Once, knowledge carried the weight of paper. It waited on the shelves of libraries, in small bookstores, in the yellowed pages of books, and in notes scribbled in the margins. You had to reach for it consciously, dedicate time to it, and sit with it in silence.

Knowledge was a journey, not a stop along the way.

Today, knowledge flows in an endless stream of images, short videos, and messages.

It appears between advertisements and the next swipe of a screen.

Reels and social media have made information faster, more accessible, and more fragmented. We no longer need to search for it—it finds us.

Psychologically, not only has the way we acquire knowledge changed, but also the way we focus our attention. In the past, the mind practiced patience by following a single narrative through hundreds of pages. Today, it more often jumps between multiple stimuli, learning to capture the most important information within seconds. Instead of diving deeply into a subject, we often skim its surface, collecting isolated images, slogans, and impressions.

There is yet another dimension to this change. Increasingly, we are not only searching for information in the digital world but also entrusting technology with part of the thinking process itself. Artificial intelligence suggests answers, summarizes books, creates plans, organizes facts, and helps formulate opinions. To our astonishment, we are beginning to hand over something that, for centuries, has been one of humanity’s most important exercises: the ability to reach our own conclusions.

Convenience comes at a price.

When answers are always within reach, we pause less often to reflect on the questions.

When someone or something analyzes on our behalf, there is a risk that the need for independent reflection gradually weakens.

Not because we lose the ability to think, but because we use it less and less.

And a person who stops exercising their own judgment becomes more susceptible to influence, algorithms, and ready-made narratives offered by others.

I do not judge this change. It reflects a world that has accelerated and learned to communicate in new ways.

Yet, I see that with every new convenience comes a growing temptation to abandon the effort of independent thinking.

And it is precisely in that effort that the most interesting questions, the deepest reflections, and the most personal discoveries are born.

Perhaps that is why I still choose books.

I enjoy when a thought unfolds slowly, when there is space between the words for silence, personal interpretation, and doubt.

A book does not fight for my attention.

It does not push another stimulus in front of me after a few seconds.

It simply exists.

It waits patiently until I am ready to enter its world.

In a world that delivers ready-made answers ever more quickly, books remind me of the value of independent thought.

And perhaps that is why I continue to reach for them.  Not because they belong to the past, but because help preserve something that is becoming increasingly rare: personal and independent way of thinking.

Bella Argazam,

June, 2026

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