I graduated high school in 2010, so I was among the last cohorts to experience an adolescence without ubiquitous smartphones. I like to think I’m not as addicted to screens as younger generations. When setting up my house, I centered my living space around bookshelves and decided to forgo a TV so I could fit more books in.

And yet I can’t throw stones at Gen Z. Even when I sit in my reading armchair with my current book on my lap, I still feel it: the itch to check my phone. The dopamine hit beckons. Could that email I’ve been waiting for have arrived? Are my friends enjoying a laugh in our group chat? Is there anything new on Instagram? (There always is.)

What keeps readers pressing on with books when quicker thrills are available is our conviction that reading offers something more substantial than a dopamine buzz. In an article last week, Luke Simon—a Gen Zer—explained the benefit of books: “In a world consumed by quick takes, hashtags, and hollow slogans, we desperately need the nuance and depth that reading brings.”

Simon, who once put himself through “phone rehab,” calls on Christians of his generation to stand out from their peers by turning away from screen addiction. The better path, he says, is to pursue a life of deep thinking: “In a culture of brain rot, we can be builders . . . people who take what’s broken, neglected, or shallow and work to make it whole, meaningful, and lasting.”

None of us—from any generation—is immune to the pull of screens. But we can fight back, and Simon’s advice will help.