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

[OnceaReaderNeveraReader]

Never been a reader. I have tried many times in my life and have enjoyed the odd book here and there but have never managed to actually become a regular reader and don't miss books ever. I was talking about this with some colleagues the other day and one of them made me feel a bit bad about this as if reading is a sign of better intellectual ability and superiority.
I am uni educated and enjoy a variety of other cultural hobbies such as art, theatre and dance but I just cannot understand what is so special about books!
How does one become a reader later in life and is it really that bad if I don't enjoy it?

I don't think reading and listening are equivalent. Reading requires active participation, and listening is passive. The distinction is significant; even the lowest level of active engagement is superior to the highest level of being told a story. Which is the activation of a child's interest that drives them to want to know "what happens next?" You turn the page and find out.

Reading is said to improve empathy skills, as you see things directly from the point of view of the various characters. I think this is done in a more direct way than other art forms.

When I read Me Before You, which was heavily criticised in many ways, it completely changed my perspective on the right to die. I've done a lot of thinking and further reading on it ever since and been back and forth on a lot of aspects. I don't know if anything but reading or direct personal experience would have had the same effect.

hahahaha

see also Twilight

The way I look at it is that it allows you to enter other people's lives- lives you can never experience and that broadening of human experience makes you a more understanding and broader minded person- it doesn't make you smarter , or even more intellectual, but it does add to your life and your understanding.

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.

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)

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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 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 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.

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

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!?

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

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

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

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!

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