Is Reading Worth It?

[2000]

I know of the obvious benefits of reading such as learning, improved reading skill, etc. I'm just wondering whether or not there are additional benefits such as a sharper mind, or physical changes in the brain. People often say it "makes you smarter". I wonder weather there is any credibility to this. Are there lasting benefits to reading books? Thank you. 

[poimandres]

I'm sure this goes without saying: If you are reading a physics textbook, then yea, you will become sharper in physics. But reading a fantasy novel will not improve your lack of understanding of physics for example.

I have noticed that when I read, my vocabulary will start to take on the languages used in the books. Most of the books I've read are old as dirt, so my language can come across as archaic. I'd also say books flex your imagination muscles and you can get lost in there and go as deeply as you want (subconscious penetration) regardless of fiction/non-fiction.

Beyond the book, I'm not sure if physical changes happen in the brain regardless.

[Joseph Maynor]

I am a huge fan of reading.  I read so much in my earlier years, that counter-intuitively not-reading is actually what is wise for me at this stage of my life.  I found I was living my life in the books, as it were.  But because I read so much in my earlier years, I have a foundation now which is amazing.  You will improve your vocabulary, your knowledge, and your conceptual thinking skills.  You can also improve your perspective on life.  Reading also makes you much more open-minded.  After all, thinking is expressed in language, so the more you read, the more you are sharpening your language/thinking skills.  But, paradoxically, there can be a stage in life where burning-all-the-books is wise.  There's a stage in life where you gotta get out of the matrix and go live life, and trust that you will pick up the remaining knowledge you need.  I'll let you figure out when that is for yourself.  That was hard for me because I spent my life in the books probably more than most people do.  So, my problem was extricating myself from books, not trying to read more.  But read up!  It's one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself.  But I think many people make the mistake of turning into scholastics, and kind of becoming addicted to pedantry.  Of course, these people don't realize it.  It's a blind spot for them.  So, you gotta know how and when to use books and then also know how and when to throw them away.  You don't wanna become a victim of living vicariously in books.  Life is to be lived, and proper living is not done by reading books your whole life.  Reading books is actually kind of unnatural if you think about it.  You're sitting there staring at paper for long periods of time.  That's what you're doing.  Think about it.  This is why a lot of intellectual people are kinda kooky perhaps.  

Edited June 16, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[Dan Arnautu]

@2000 You have access to the entire lives, mistakes and victories of all the great people that ever existed. Someone out there wrote about how to solve any problem that you may have right now. Isn't that a compelling enough reason?

[TJ Reeves]

8 hours ago, 2000 said:

I know of the obvious benefits of reading such as learning, improved reading skill, etc. I'm just wondering whether or not there are additional benefits such as a sharper mind, or physical changes in the brain. 

1 - Learning and improving your skill set is part of generating a sharper mind through physical changes in your brain

There is no reason to create a separation between the two. One is part of the other. 

2 - “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.”

Basically every single problem you have ever faced has already been faced by another version of you in a previous lifetime. 

Books are a Time Machine that transport you into the mind of a wiser, more accomplished version of you.

Books are also like sitting down with a mentor who has taken the time to choose his words as wisely as possible so that you grasp insights that took him years to reach.

Most importantly, Books are like a cheat sheet for life.

You can bullshit around trying to reinvent the wheel ... Or you can just read how another version of you did it and then adapt they solution to your problems. 

I could try to come up with the neti-neti method all on my own after years of meditation and then begin practicing it. Or I could read about the Neti-Neti Method and practice it years earlier because it only took a day to read about it.

So lets say reading wasn't going to make some "physical change" to your ability to think: the lessons reading gives you would make you "sharper" in that you would solve life's problems faster than a version of you who didn't read. Because again,  you already know the answers to the problems you're solving since you read the answer in book somewhere.

 2 - Books are a form of meditation thus they sharpen your mind

Let go of the idea of meditation as something you only do sitting with your eyes closed and legs crossed.

Anything that exercises your ability to concentrate + contemplate counts as a form of meditation.

And if you didn't guess it by now, books require a ton of concentration and they raise your ability to contemplate by giving you new perspectives. 

More specifically, reading can be seen as a form of mindfulness meditation. Instead of watching your breath, trailing off, realizing and going back to the breath, you read a book, trail off to consider what the book is talking about, and go back to reading the book.

Seriously, just do strong determination sitting while reading and you will see just how difficult it actually is. I have added this to my daily regimen and it's done wonders for me. 

So yes reading in and of itself gives you a sharper mind because meditation gives you a sharper mind. 

Overall, stop looking for excuses to not read. You should be reading far far more than you currently do. 

Edited June 17, 2017 by TJ Reeves

[Extreme Z7]

@2000  You'll never know until you've tried it out consistently for years. Take a leap of faith!