“Find the paperback. eBooks lack character. Physical books are more than the words they contain, they are also tools to stimulate the senses and adjust your thinking. When I don’t feel well, I stare at a page forever before realizing I haven’t absorbed a word. When that happens, I try to understand why. What’s gotten in my way? On the other hand, there are books I can take in effortlessly no matter how awful I’m feeling. Why do those books draw me in? I think it may be sort of a mental tuning. It’s the feeling of the paper against my fingers. That familiar smell of pulp and glue. The momentary stimulations to my brain when I turn each page. These sensations help regulate and focus my brain making it work better.” – Makishima
*Disclaimer* this article excludes the cost of each because if you were choosing a book based on cost then eBooks would always be cheaper than paperback.
eBooks lacking character may not be obvious what he means by ‘character’. In this case he is most likely referring to the fact that eBooks lack the characteristics to discern themselves from other eBooks. Physical books on the other hand can be identified from the coarseness of the paper, the colour of the paper, weight of the book, and the scent of the paper. For example, my copy of my favourite book Fahrenheit 451 is a hardcover but, it is the only book in my collection that has almost silk smooth paper, making it easy to find even when I cannot see. This also ties into his next statement of physical books are more than the words they contain.
Physical books are tools to stimulate the senses. An eBook only stimulates the visual sense, a physical book has scent, touch etc., so each physical books continuously stimulate more senses, this also will make it more likely to remember a memory. The more sensations involved make it easier to remember. Physical books can adjust our thinking in a way most people don’t consciously notice. Most physical books cannot remain open on a specific page on their own. This requires us to hold the book open to read it which forces us to use slightly more muscles. Similar to how your muscles will relax when going into R.E.M. sleep. The book could keep you awake.
The act of physically turning pages can become a habitual relaxation or tuning of the mind. Something an eBook lacks. The scent, the feeling of paper with momentary stimulations eventually become associations for people’s minds to relax. The act of reading in a way forces meditation upon people even if they do not think so. This what he means when he says it helps regulate and focus his mind. For people who have trouble focusing it may be a worthy investment to start reading physical books. The more physical books you read the more your mind becomes used to a semi-relaxed state of mind. Often people read books on tablets, laptops, and among other similar things. All of those things have distractions like social media alerts, email alerts etc. Physical books lack these distractions, so you are less likely to get distracted.
Overall, Makishima’s argument is most likely saying that physical books make us feel more human. Most computers do not read code on a physical piece of paper. They read it in in data storage and such. Computer’s also do not care about what a paper feels like or what it smells like. Only humans even notice such things. It is likely that super artificial intelligence would not care much for physical books either. Hence, why physical books can make us feel more human. Think about it, we stare at a dead piece of wood with symbols written on it and hallucinate images about it. Have you ever seen a computer do that?