To think having never read a book is nothing to brag about

[lastqueenofscotland]

I am a bit of a book worm but I was meeting a friend and her Dfiance for lunch today and she was saying that her New Years resolution was to read some classics/good books and asked for a few recommendations.
Cue her DF having a real brag about how he's not read a book cover to cover since primary school... no learning difficulties etc. Also goes on about how he doesn't read papers/the news as it's always "boring and about other countries."

Aibu to think wilful ignorance is nothing to brag about?!

People will proclaim proudly "I was hopeless at maths"

I occasionally say I was hopeless at Maths but that is only because I failed Scottish Higher Maths despite getting an A at Ordinary Grade. They gave me a compensatory Ordinary Grade which means I must have got at 45% in the Higher; which in reality means I'm probably better at Maths than most people, especially if "Maths" includes arithmetic.

I don't understand how it is possible to go through life and not read.

My OH (ASD) can't see the point in reading. 'It's all made up anyway.' He knows nothing at all of popular culture and almost sees it as a badge of honour, because he regards anything that 'other people' watch and read as 'chavvy'. Only the things he is interested in are important.

He does, however, recognise that his view is only his, and that other people regard reading as important. But he can't understand suspension of disbelief, and therefore fiction.

My stepmother is proud of having never read a book in her life. She is completely devoid of empathy and I think the two things may be connected.

I am a Reader....I love reading and would probably describe it as my favourite past-time. I am bereft without a book on the go.

I'm not a snob about it and have no issue with someone who cannot or chooses not to read. I know lots of people who don't have a third level education or don't have time for reading.
They remain engaged and interested in the wider world, seeking out their own sources of information.

I find it baffling to come across people who have an attitude of pride in their lack of knowledge.

It always seems quite a defensive viewpoint; as if the person dares you to think less of them for not knowing a Shakespearean reference or what is "1984" .

I read this article in the Guardian today.
The quote in that article which stood out to me was how as "the German language poet Paul Celan toiled in a Nazi labour camp surrounded by death, “only one thing remained close and secure ... Language. Yes, language.”

Every power hungry regime attacks free access to knowledge and independent thought...so it behoves us to seek alternative points of view and feed our own minds, instead of relying on biased news sources for our opinions.
If we rely on Facebook or MN active pages or one news channel or newspaper for all our information- it will be biased.

This (sorry, Guardian again) article ends with the line.... "I want them to see that reading breeds thinking, and thinking breeds resistance, and surely, especially right now, that is a good thing."

Think about all the big issues affecting our lives at the moment..... Brexit, immigration, globalisation of the economy, extension to the length of our working lives, the coming pensions problem, the impact of the internet on social cohesion etc etc.
The more information you have, about where these issues emerged from (history), the many different points of view that people have on them, the variety of solutions (good and bad), then the better informed you can be and thus a better citizen.

Oh fuck! This again. I like reading but when I read these contributions by insufferable snobs I can see why people are put off.