"... encouraging 'curious minds, deep thinkers and informed citizen.' The city state has launched a programme called ReadSG under which people are encouraged to log their daily reading on an app in return for virtual 'coins,' redeemable for cash. The idea is inspired by the goal of walking 10,000 steps a day.... The sums of money in play are small and no one is going to get rich from reading in Singapore, although its organisers hope that the 'gamification' element and the rewards offered by the programme will motivate participants.... Someone who logged 15 minutes a day for a year would be entitled to S$7.30 (£4.25)."
I'm reading
"The city that pays people to put down the phone and read a book Singapore is seeking to turn the page on ‘doomscrolling’ with a system in which readers can log their progress in exchange for cash" (London Times).
So... get off your phone... get on your phone... which is it?
पोस्ट्स
२० टिप्पण्या:
My father offered me $5 a book for reading Dickens. I never took him up on it. $5 was a lot back then.
Hey! You! Get offa your phone!
Warning: Unregulated A.I. may turn that app into a book burning app that pays you when you burn a book.
I read a couple books a week
On my phone
Does that count?
John Henry
How about the 'gamification' of meditation?
I asked ai to make a "meditation theme" version of Lou Vega - Mambo No. 5
A little bit of mindfulness in my soul
A little bit of mantra by my mat
A little bit of zen is all I need
A little bit of insight is what I see
A little bit of breathing in the light
A little bit of silence all peace long
A little bit of presence, here I am
"The sums of money in play are small and no one is going to get rich from reading in Singapore."
Last I checked you need a cool $9 million USD to "make it" in Singapore, one of my favorite cities on Earth. Only Zurich and Geneva are pricier. Time is money in Singapore, and the smart ones - and there's plenty - will figure a way to gamify this then play with the profits at the LME.
It's what I'd do.
And if the $5 reward doesn't work, the country that has outlawed chewing gum can simply outlaw not reading...
I see a social credit scheme.
Heh. Absurd from the get go. One must use the "reading app" in order to log in what they've read. Either one picks up a book and reads it, or one doesn't. Most people do not. End of story.
When I was 3 and my brother was 5 our mother would pay us th read the Indianapolis Star. A penny to read a comic and explain it, a nickel to read and explain an article on the sports page, and a dime for reading and explaining an article on the front page. Back in the 50s you could buy a lot of candy for 16 cents.
Now, Grok reads and explains everything to me for free, no candy.
My parents paid me to stop reading and mow the lawn.
Maybe some kids in Singapore will try reading because their friends/peers are doing this and some of those will find they actually like reading and will keep it up.
Singapore is a living example of incentives weaving their way across the line, back and forth. Chewing gum can get you lashes, yes. On the other hand, the city is a clean one, almost sparkling. Would you rather step in human sh*t, and have your gaze taking in used needles, condoms, people nodding off next to their tent and shopping cart, in a pile of rubbish? Not me. Good for them, motivating people to read.
In Singapore, kids play the stock and prediction markets. A pubescent Peranakan without a Polymarket account is likely to be stuffed in their locker.
"Now, Grok reads and explains everything to me for free, no candy."
Well, free except for the $2000 computer, $1000 smart phone, and several hundred dollars in internet/wifi access, plus whatever cloud storage you use.
"So... get off your phone... get on your phone... which is it?"
It isn't the phone so much as the social media (cr)ap on the phone.
"So... get off your phone... get on your phone... which is it?"
Nobody is this confused. What are you actually trying to say?
Frequent Singlish response - "Noted"
Singapore's 15 year olds perform the best on the PISA test right up there with China, who is probably lying about their results. 100 years from now a good book collection will probably like owning a Victrola. The people on this blog have typically read a lot of books. More than almost everyone will read in the future. What can you expect? Even more widespread propaganda and easily manipulated citizens. And we already have so many dogmatic people. In the future, people with think that means "people who automatically like dogs."
Won't this backfire on the Singapore regime? A more well-read populace will know about alternatives to the authoritarian-capitalist society.
Or maybe they'll look at the alternatives and realize they have it pretty good, all things considered? CC, JSM
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