TheSwoleOne Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 I want to hear your opinions on this. is reading fiction books good for you? Will it actually make you a more intelligent person? Obviously you can learn a lot more from non-fiction but is fiction beneficial as well? I read non-fiction occasionally but I often find it dull sometimes. I'm only asking because I'm wondering if I'm just wasting my time reading fiction books, even though I enjoy them. I feel like it's sort of like playing video games, it's just something that passes the time and doesnt actually benefit you in any way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altherion Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Sure. At the very least, it helps develop your vocabulary and teaches you how to write. In some cases, the story may be fantastical (e.g. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulkagov or A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens), but the themes that the author is trying to get across are drawn from and directly applicable to the real world and they're well worth understanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroclasticFlow Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I would have to agree with Ser Scot. There are a few articles out there that show how and why reading a novel is beneficial for the noggin. I love reading, fiction and non-fiction. Also love working out the brain by doing a crossword a day, especially after a long day at work. In regards to dull non-fiction, switch it up. Read about someone or something that you think wouldn't interest. I prefer reading on folks who've been dead a long time: Cicero, Genghis Khan, Magellan etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlefingers In The Air Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Yes. I've vacationed so much without leaving home. Thanks, books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stannis Eats No Peaches Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 no i never raed and i can still right fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 In some cases, the story may be fantastical (e.g. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulkagov I'm literally reading that at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I've suggested to several of my more analytical team members that reading quality fiction would help their verbal and written communication skills: variety in vocabulary & metaphors, narrative structure, flow of ideas, structure of sentences and paragraphs, literary analogies and general development of non-linear thought process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB. Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Of course, but cares when its fun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhangel Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I'm reading a book called Why We Read Fiction by Lisa Zunshine, about how fiction is essentially an exercise in recursive thinking and Theory of Mind. It's fascinating, I'd recommend it to anyone interested in this kind of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdyphillip Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 If you would read a little more, you might find out that the first letter of a sentence is capitalized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I am pretty sure it is. But one has to take into account that many (esp. children) who already start with above average (verbal) intelligence will be drawn to reading books (and often devouring lots of them from an early age on), so the direction of causation is not always completely clear here. It is also one of the more fun ways to stay in touch with a foreign language and improve vocabulary as well as "intuitive" grasp of grammar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away, Nor any Coursers like a Page Of prancing Poetry – This Traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of Toll – How frugal is the Chariot That bears a Human soul. Emily Dickinson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Who says playing video games doesn't benefit you in any way, anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaldanya Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Why does it matter? What sort of life is it if everything has to be worthy and full of purpose to better oneself? I read because it's fun no other reason. N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GallowKnight Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 You are asking this on a message board dedicated to a series of fantasy books, what answer do you expect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 By itself, it certainly won’t make you more intelligent, no more than watching TV, playing video games, or talking to people. There is a tiny fraction of literature that may make you a better person. For instance, you might look to read fiction that puts you in the mind of people [i]that don’t share your values[/i] or experiences. However, I’m quite sure that this is not representative of literature—most people seem to read about characters that they can emote with, connect with, see themselves in, etc. So I guess that [i]on average[/i], fiction has an ethically and intellectually corrosive effect on you: you get better at rationalising yourself to yourself because you read well-planned fictional accounts that support your values and decisions. Basically, lies about how things ought to be. This is [i]the very appeal[/i] of most fiction. Likewise, there are some nonfiction books that make you smarter in that they expose you to information. Again, most books seem no [i]not[/i] have that feature: I haven’t seen any numbers, but I assume there is one “self-help” book sold for every introduction to cosmology, one Malcolm Gladwell sold for every Richard Dawkins. So I think it’s hard to establish that books are good for us. Some are, most aren’t. We read because some of us think it’s a brilliant way to spend our brief time on Earth while our bodies slowly decay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fallen Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Any and all reading is beneficial. Even if it's catalogues and pamphlets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elder Sister Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Why does it matter? What sort of life is it if everything has to be worthy and full of purpose to better oneself? I read because it's fun no other reason. N Yep. Although I do think reading good fiction has made me a better writer, I'm certainly no Jane Austen; it just makes it easier for me to communicate my thoughts. Reading is one of my most favorite things to do. And I think that honestly, it has molded who I am and what I believe. Reading stories like Nancy Drew, Don Quixote, Sense and Sensibility, A Tale of Two Cities, To Kill a Mockingbird..all of these stories made/make me want to be a better person. They remind me of why it's important to do the right thing. I don't even know if that makes sense, but I truly believe that reading about these wonderful, inspiring, made up people who never even existed actually made me a better person. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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