To think being a reader doesn't make you better or smarter?

When people used to say they were self-educated this is what they meant- that they had read a lot. It has it's limitations , but you can educate yourself this way.
It will not replace teachers however, at least 50% of the point of school is the child minding element, how would parents work if their children educated themselves by reading?

Of course we shouldn't get rid of teachers, but even subjects like maths assume you can read enough to work on questions like, "Jane has 4 apples and John has 6 apples. If they each give half their apples to Julie, how many apples will Julie have?" You have to be able to read what the English is saying before you can do the arithmetic.

I'm an editorial professional too and I'm a huge reader for fun.
Almost everyone I've ever met in and around the publishing world is a voracious reader (not just editorial but people who work in sales, marketing, design, production etc too). I mean, no one is going to make their fortune working in publishing, so it stands to reason IMO that if you go into it it's got to be in large part because you love books.

Having said that, every now and then I get given a book to proofread that's supposedly been copy-edited already, and it looks as if the copy-editor has never read a book in their life and doesn't have any real understanding of the English language or of what a book is meant to be like (grammar, spelling and syntax all over the place, half-sentences that trail off or are non sequiturs, etc etc). Maybe this is the work of editors who don't read for fun or feel very engaged with books and reading.

Not a single person who knows me would describe me as introverted. Not one. My hobbies are mainly social activities and am usually the last one to leave a party. But I love reading too.

I know so many mothers including myself who went through this. I think it's just a case of persevering. I still don't read anywhere near as much as I used to and I don't feel as deeply engaged in what I read but I'm definitely getting there. I found audiobooks really helped for a while although it had to be non-fiction as I did used to zone out a lot. And putting the phone the hell away.

I know loads of people who are much more sociable than me and are also big readers.

Really?
We'll just get rid of teachers then shall we and let everyone learn by reading!

@OnceaReaderNeveraReader I don't think reading inherently makes you smarter. I probably lean more to the converse - if you are smart you read more (or better, maybe) books.

I do think reading can make someone more knowledgeable (depending on the books read of course), but then so can watching (the right sort of) tv programmes.

The trouble is that nowadays it's so easy to find something else to do - I could be reading my book now, but instead I'm posting on an Internet forum!

Oh yes I can reread books I loved and I can immerse myself in those. It kinda makes me think the cynical voice might be right. Sometimes I think I should write but as someone likely dyslexic I pause at that. Reading never helped my spelling unfortunately. AI does though

Hope you find the right books to get you back into reading, perhaps books you enjoyed before you stopped reading? I love rereading books from childhood and my youth

I used to read a lot. As a child I read a lot. As an adult I read more. I read a lot of what people might consider challenging and a lot that wasn't. I read anything. I couldn't get on a train or a tube without a book. Then I had kids and since then I struggle to read anything. I have this cynical voice in my head going - that's ridiculous. I can't immerse myself in a book.

I saw someone on social media suggest a few books that were factual but written like a novel and I thought I would read one. The cynical voice in my head is gone but I am still struggling to read.

It saddens me as I used to love escaping to a fictional world. I will keep trying

Oh you'd be surprised. I read it because of the hype, hated it. I have a few male friends who raved about it.

You think there's not a man out there that doesn't like the idea of a woman being entirely submissive because they're contractually obliged to!?

Coming from someone who doesn’t read obviously! You sound really dumb there is so much knowledge available in books that arent fiction

I read a lot. I can also go from 0-100. I am more patient than others in my family but I wouldn't say I'm particularly patient (dad has infinite patience but the rest can be triggered instantly. I fell somewhere in the middle). I can take/ignore a lot but once triggered that's it for me.

Reading improves the ability to comprehend things, vocab, grammar, and engages both sides of the brain at once as you're analysing and imagining as you're reading. That's how it makes people "smarter". It also allows you to feel how you would in certain scenarios you've not been in, because you're viewing it through the eyes of the narrator rather than being narrated to, such as on screen. So it improves emotional intelligence too.

I still don't believe it makes a person better than someone who doesn't read. I just believe it's a valuable pass time because it helps with so much.

I think it depends on the type of person you are as well. Reading is a pretty introverted, solo activity. Unless you're reading aloud to your mates, but who does that? So maybe if you're a more social person, you're likely to be reading less, and more interested in socialising and doing other activities.

I grew up with a real love of reading. My DH never read growing up. I can see a significant difference in our understanding of grammar and ability to spell. I honestly believe that reading from being a young child is very beneficial.

I strongly believe that reading makes you smarter and find readers are usually more intelligent than non-readers!

Im an avid reader and based on the shit I read it certainly doesn’t make me smarter 😆

Nope. It was the human mind first, habit and custom, then as we developed speech it was oral tradition, epic poems, myths, sagas, lore, anecdotes, folk tales, fairy tales, jokes, songs, nursery rhymes-- only occasionally and somewhat haphardardly written down anywhere.

not to mention the literotica stories site is an excellent reading site

50 shades nah, the black lace books and nexus series books were lots better

Proving definitively that readers are not smarter than non-readers.

See also: 50 Shades of Grey

I think yo🤣u typed 'readers' instead of 'women'. No man reads that stuff.

Well, for most of humanity's existence books were the main receptacle used to store knowledge.

Reading improves patience. Everyone I know who doesn't read has a 0 -100 button, they can suddenly go from 0-100.

I think you know more stuff if you read.

Interesting,

I much prefer the films as they cut out most of the extraneous detail that I skip through in the books. Plus I found that the visuals just made the films more impactful. I find it much easier to get caught up in the fantasy world with the films.

(I don’t feel the same about The Hobbit, where I much preferred the book)

Genuine answer to a genuine question: I find books go into more detail, which I personally find more interesting. So the LOTR books, for example, had way more in them than the films, some of which was lost on screen. I enjoyed the films, but prefer the books as they are ‘richer’ if you will.