I would understand if it were books that were educational, however I often see fiction refered. What makes reading so good?
In: Biology
Because intellectual curiosity makes for a wellinformed mind and broad horizons. The notion is from before the internet, which may be why people don’t resolve to read the wiki from one end to the other.
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TLDR: your brain is a muscle that needs to be exercised.
Reading, no matter if it’s for leisure or for education, is always good for you. Fiction books are no less important to read than non-fiction books. With fiction books you allow your brain to work other areas like your imagination and lets you expand your horizons. Also, just because it’s a fiction book does not mean that there is not factual information in them. Take a look at the author Michael Crichton, a lot of his novels are fiction but are packed with scientific and medical information and concepts that are being developed today. At the end of the day, whether it’s a text book, comic book, or any other kind of book, find what you enjoy and read.
Reading is an active process. The reader is assessing characters, setting, foreshadowing, tone, making predictions and judgments, remembering past events, and taking into account the voice of the author – all the while applying their own opinions (and maybe evening changing some).
Reading is therapeutic and good for mental health. Fiction is compelling because it explores real-life emotions and scenarios. Perhaps a complicated situation relating to family, fear, health, or friendship is presented thoughtfully and articulately for the first time to a reader. That reader now has a better tool for understanding a complicated issue, dealing with it, and taking comfort in the fact that somebody else (the author or the author’s source) understands what they’re going through.
Reading is fulfilling and satisfying – especially as one grows as a reader and tackles more difficult texts. The sense of digesting and completing a complicated book that challenged your beliefs and taught you something new, and doing so under your own free will and interest, is a great feeling.
Practically, it makes you a much better speaker and writer. Check out any annual/monthly reading list you can find by a respected author. You’ll soon see that they’re such good writers/storytellers because they consume a huge amount and a huge variety of books (both fiction and non-fiction)
Your brain is basically a whole bunch of connected things, and when doing things, these connections activate. A connection that activates, is more likely to activate in the future, making stronger connections. If you don’t activate as many of these connections as possible, they might start to not activate when they should. This is very loosely how dementia works, you don’t recognize someone you should because the “memory” connections don’t activate.
And well, then there is the whole higher level character building bit’s everyone else is talking about… thought I’d chime in the nitty gritty bits.
Reading stories generally helps people better develop empathy. Considering situations and event from other peoples perspectives, real or fictional
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