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 think it absolutely does make you more knowledgable. As a child I got shedloads of knowledge about other eras and other countries that I just would not have got by watching TV. Books tend to go into more detail. From Little Women alone I learned about the American Civil War, Pilgrim's Progress and what "muslin" was, among many other things, and was inspired to make my sister's contribute to a family newspaper (and eventually became a journalist).

At the moment I am reading a book which in just one aside told me something about Waterloo Bridge which I didn't know. The amount I have learned by reading, I just can't think how I would have gained that any other way. And of course it isn't just facts although those are the most obvious - it is getting a deeper understanding of humanity, different ways of thinking, different ways of reacting to things, finding out that you are not alone in what you think or feel or conversely that there are many different ways to think and feel. TV and movies do not take you inside people's heads.

Now I think about it, in my totally non-scientific analysis, the only people who have told me they never read books have been significantly less smart/had less common sense than their peers. I’m talking 5 people over 20 years in a professional work setting…so not many…but it’s a 100% hit rate. (I’ve also worked with some hopeless avid readers for balance!)

They are reading for their own personal enjoyment, and that is all that matters.

DH doesn’t read, left school at 16. I’m a big reader, university educated, professional job, generally quite clever.

9/10 out of ten when DH says something educated or something I don’t know I’ll joke whether he knows that from Big Bang Theory (which he’s watched about a million times) and the answer is yes.

(also to defend DH, he’s incredibly practical and knows an impressive amount about electrics, plumbing, networking, pharmaceuticals and DIY despite that not being in any way related to his work. He is just clever in a different way to me, but does learn a lot from pop culture “low brow” TV!)

One thing I find (as a prolific reader) is that I’m just generally more intelligent and have a better vocabulary than most people I come across.

And I think that’s down to me reading a wide variety of books and also just being very curious about certain things and going down rabbit holes googling/researching stuff.

Not being a reader doesn’t mean you’re not intelligent or very capable of course not - but my own personal opinion is that I find it difficult to discuss a wide range of topics with people who don’t read.

One of the things that makes dh and compatible is that we both read a lot (we both read fiction and non fiction but totally different stuff) and like to keep abreast of what’s going on in the world so we can usually always find something interesting to talk about.

My best friends (whom I love) are not readers at all, are not interested in politics/art/literature etc. and whilst we never stop talking when we’re together it tends to be quite superficial stuff or talking about relationships. I have to use my hobby groups to discuss more intellectual things like at my book club.

I recently in my friendship group of 6 women mentioned the fact I read Jane Eyre once a year and none of them knew what I was talking about. A couple did say “is that a film?”! They are all intelligent women!

Agreed. - ETA I thought I'd quoted a pp here but must not have!
Readers might also 'sound smarter, articulation, turn of phrase and vocabulary use can be linked to reading.

I did a dyslexia course years ago and it was explained to us that, while obviously having dyslexia doesn't make you less smart, as the years go on and reading gap widens, IQ is effected as peers generally will be reading at a higher level in terms of information, language and complexity. So you could take from that that simply not reading would have the same impact.

It sounds like you have plenty of interests etc so it'd likely not true of you.

A fantastic principal I knew told me that he never read at all until after he qualified as a teacher so he had done perfectly well without it! (He's now an avid reader by the way!)

I love Dickens stories...but I really struggled with actually attempting to read the original novels.
The writing style I found hard to follow.
We have an Usborne collection of Dickens stories which is how I've read them.

I usually have about 3 books on the go, a novel, a biography, and maybe something historical or politcal. Reading is my escape and my main hobby. It suits my personality and the way I think. I don't think it makes me better or smarter than anybody else. I would love to be outsdoorsy and sporty, or to be able to knit or sew, to be creative as a way to relax but I am cack handed and not in any way practical so books are my way of relaxing. Each to their own, some people hate reading the way I hate going to the gym. We are all different.

Wouldn’t you have learnt a lot of that from the Little Women film?

There are plenty of films that are poignant and/or educational (Schindlers List and Good Morning Vietnam both taught me a lot about historic periods that I wouldn’t have otherwise known as I wouldn’t pick up a book about war).

I read a lot and would describe myself as thicker than pig shit.

Yep I definitely don’t agree books are better than the internet for educating yourself! Not least because most books can be found on the internet.

I don’t read many physical books these days. I do watch a lot of documentaries, podcasts, kindle/google books, online academic journal articles, online newspapers etc.

It's all about the content though.

You can watch documentaries on all manner of topics these days and they are entertaining and informative. There are countless podcasts on the same. YouTube has a wealth of information. None of these things require reading.

Equally you could read voraciously, but not the classics, or the latest Booker prize-winner. You may not learn a lot of facts, but your spelling and grammar will almost certainly improve. You might find it relaxing and good for the imagination, but this could also be said for other ways of acquiring knowledge.

Reading isn't the key, the key is having an enquiring mind. If you get your knowledge from books, that's great. If you get it from documentaries or podcasts, that's also great. One is not inherently better than the other.

This is another point I meant to make - I also think DH and I have a much higher level of critical thinking than my friends/family who don’t read. We really take apart and discuss/think about things from all angles and don’t just go along with what is fed to us from the media.

I remember being shocked during Covid with how many people we knew just blithely went along with everything they were told to do and didn’t even question things.

FIL (who is more intelligent than most) even thought there should be forced vaccination and I have to admit I lost a bit of respect for him.

TV shows, and even films, are now made to be so dumbed down so viewers can follow the plot while playing on their phone. TV is really dumb now; you have to work hard to find a show that actually takes some brain power.

Reading isn’t like that. It actually requires attention and thought. The average reading age of adults in this country is that of an 11 year old… it’s really bad. People need to start reading more, broadening their knowledge base. Read books from different cultures and points of view.

I think it does make you more intelligent and one of my red lines when dating was cutting out any man who said, “I don’t do books.”

I agree with this.
Just one example is, most of what I know about UK politics in the 70s and 80s – Thatcher, the miners' strikes, Greenham Common etc – comes from reading Adrian Mole when I was a teenager .
Actually, mention of Jane Eyre reminds me that reading it made me interested enough to go off and find out more about Caribbean Creole society in the 19th century.

Me too.

Reading also improves comprehension, inference, predicting etc.

I am also a huge Mole fan!

I love reading and I enjoy read about places or events I am not familiar with so I suppose I do learn a little from it. I’m just as likely to read complete trash though so definitely being a reader doesn’t necessarily confer superior knowledge. I just love the escapism of it. You ( the OP) have this in art and dance etc. I am embarrassed by my complete lack of knowledge and appreciation for art. I tried but I just can’t even tell whether I like something or not. My DP loves art and could happily spend all day in a gallery. Everyone just has different areas of interest - doesn’t mean more or less intelligent or superior

Oh gosh, the comprehension. You only need to spend an hour on here to see how poor the majority of people’s comprehension is. Really very simply posts go completely over their heads and they start replying ti the scenario they have made up, because they cannot understand what is being communicated to them. It’s very sad.

Tbh if i hadn't spent as much time reading my mum's Mills & Boon and Lena Kennedy books I probably wouldn't have moved on to what is more generally considered literature or the non-fiction I read and I most likely wouldn't be as willing or able to read, interpret or break down complex information.

Reading the stuff book snobs disparage can be every bit of an incredible tool. I dislike book snobbery especially when it comes to children. One of my daughter's friends wasn't allowed to read fiction for a summer and wasn't allowed to borrow her DOAWK books. I don't see the point in that and I know people really do that series down but I see my daughter taking something new from it every time, along with other book series' she's attached to. It doesn't mean she'll only ever read that - I'm in my 40s and don't read Point Horror any more - another series that people have picked on to disparage - but it was foundational for me. I truly believe books are bricks.

That's a VERY niche example!

In the majority of cases, it really doesn't matter (evidence-based) what you read. It's the act of reading that engages core functions of the brain, that would contribute to being 'smarter', if you want to use that term. It's the activity, not the content.

(Clearly if you are specifically reading to study, or gain a qualification, what you read matters too, but OP was not talking about this. In general life, what you read is much less important than the act of reading, conspiracy theory texts aside. That being said, I still think even conspiracy theory books will be a lot more valid than reading the dross that can be found online, regardless of whether I agree with the premise of them).

I can't imagine not reading for pleasure or information. Leading to read and the world of worlds it unlocked has been a lifelong delight.

Has it made me a better person? Perhaps not. More intelligent? Possibly: Google the Flynn effect for an academic's insights into population level IQ increases stimulated by complex media and plots.

But a good story, excellent biography or persuasive history and political book will always be of interest. I like both fiction and non-fiction.

I was a phenomenal reader in younger years, once I found the style of book that pulled me in.

In later years I have stopped as I never seem to have the time but my ability to pick the right word for the situation, quick witted response and spelling ability certainly declines when I stop reading.

Maybe we thought differently?

l have critical thinking skills. I just use them differently.

Not going along with Covid guidelines doesn’t indicate critical thinking skills, l could suggest it could mean lots of other things.