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 grew up avidly reading anything I could get my hands on. I've forgotten most of it, but every now and again I surprise myself when we're watching some quiz or other on the telly. The answer appears out of my mouth and my family say 'how the hell did you know that?!!'😂

Reading doesn't make you more intelligent, you just know more 'stuff'.

Having had 3 kids, two of whom are readers, it definitely improves your written English / vocabulary. I’d say my readers are more articulate, though not more intelligent as my non reader is very successful academically (maths / finance career so not related to reading in any way).

My mum used to buy us all comics, every Sat. Someone quite snobbily took the mick out of her but she said she would do anything to encourage reading at a young age. 3 out of four of us went on to develop a love of books and yes, I like to think that helped us later on in life. The one who didn't flitters to one thing to the next, never did concentrate on one thing and he's still like that now, mid 50s.

See l love reading, but l really don’t like the classics. I particularly don’t like Shakespeare!

l like books set in those periods historical fiction is my favourite genre. Love books about witchcraft which would be set in Shakespeare’s time. But not the man himself.

Englush LirA level confirmed my dislike of them!

Don't you think that maybe some intelligent people who don't read books just wouldn't admit it. They know it's looked down upon. The problem is that, as shown by this thread, lots of books are also looked down on so if someone starts reading just to impress other people they also have to read the kinds of books these snobs approve of.

There is research showing that reading literary and classic fiction does increase intelligence in various ways such as improved empathy, theory of mind, improved critical thinking, increased attention span and ability to mentally handle complex information not to mention improved syntax and vocabulary which will improve and refine your communication skills. Engaging with serious literature stimulates the brain, creates new neural pathways, and can helps you understand complex issues and diverse perspectives, fostering intellectual and personal growth.

Reading typically engages more brain regions for active interpretation and imagination than audio but both reading and audiobooks are less passive than most TV or films it does depend watching a Michael Haneke film will demand more of you than the latest rom-com or marvel offering.

So OP I think you are being unreasonable about reading not making you smarter, it might even make you a better person if you take into account the studies showing that it improves theory of mind and empathy.

However OP its very common these days not to read a book at all of any kind. So you aren't unusual for not doing so.

I think reading widely and frequently undoubtedly does improve vocabulary, linguistic versatility, memory and imagination, general and specific knowledge; avid readers are generally better conversationalists in my experience. Reading exercises the muscles of the mind, but it can’t change your innate intelligence level, so whether or not it makes you “smarter” really depends on how you define that very nebulous concept.

As you point out in your OP, there are plenty of other pursuits that enrich and improve the mind, and not all readers are doing those - and anyone who thinks reading - or being “smart”, for that matter - makes them better than anyone else is a tosspot.

If you read about a black hat, each of us will imagine something different- it will depend on how visual our imagination is (how phantasic we are,) and experiences. It might be a bobble hat, top hat, bonnet, bowler, fedora, beret, peaked cap, etc, etc, etc. If you see a black hat on a screen, someone else did all that imagination work. So reading is a different sort of thinking than watching TV

I do think it increases vocabulary and so on - there are some words where I know which book I first learnt it in (soporific from the Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, for example.) That's not to say you can't learn from radio and screens either - I have learnt a lot from all those too. And reading depends to some extent on what you read, just as there's a difference between watching an in-depth documentary or Blankety Blank. Not everything will increase your intellect. But there is plenty of evidence to show that reading does make you smarter. That doesn't mean that watching films won't though.

Well, Shakespeare's plays are designed to be performed and seen, not read. He is a bit of a slog to read, unless maybe you're seen the play or a film or telly adaptation and know about it already.

It's an interesting point. I do believe in the canon, and I do agree with Harold Bloom that we should be ruthlessly honest about what deserves to get in. But plenty of lighter stuff is incredibly good. My brother did a PhD in literature yet still loves Asterix and Tintin comics. He also reverses P. G. Wodehouse and thinks he is one of the greatest poets in the English language.

From my mid-teens until having children at 34, I always had a book (or 3!) on the go.
I would spend hours, and some times an entire day off reading.

I've not read a book from cover to cover for almost 12 years now.

I don't think I'm any more or less bright for it!

You could call me a reader, as I read 2 or 3 books a week and listen to even more on Audible, but they are almost without exception rubbish, as I use books to escape from my life and the real world (including world politics), which I don’t want to be reminded of. So I don’t think that counts. I’m afraid I last read using my brains decades ago when I was at university, doing a literature based course.

" TV is really dumb now; you have to work hard to find a show that actually takes some brain power."

I totally disagree with that. It's more sophisticated than it ever was. All you have to do is go to a forum discussing a good drama and find the people who didn't understand because they got up to make tea in the middle or whatever.
I've got a book on my shelf (from when I read books!) all about the stuff you can learn from TV.

Well read people do tend to seem 'smarter'. Though I don't know if they necessarily are in any meaningful way. I think I'd find someone who isn't very well read a bit of a turn off. But then boasting about it is even worse. As long as you have an inquisitive and open mind, I guess that's more important.

I don't read novels for pleasure
Scientific journals though I absolutely love reading....

When I talk to my students about reading, I talk to them about how much easier it becomes to access life.

Reading regularly improves reading fluency, your analytical skills, your inference and understanding and it improves the standard of your written English too.

My 16 year old regular readers are more articulate and express themselves effectively. They performed better in mock interviews and also find it’s easier to interpret their exam questions.

I believe there are many different types of intelligence so I’m not sure I’d say reading makes you smarter, it’s more nuanced than that.

"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!"

That's got nothing to do with being a reader of novels or not. Jane Eyre is extremely well known and many people will have heard of it without having ever read it.

Of course it can make you smarter. This is a fight I used to have with my teen (who has now discovered reading and is obsessed). But it doesn’t have to be books. Good quality newspapers and magazines also help. It widens your vocabulary and you keep learning new things.

Yes it does but doesn’t necessarily have to be books, it can be factual blogs or news articles.

I find this quite surprising.

Every person l know knows about the Brontes and Jane Eyre. Even DS. If seems a bit weird that these people have not heard of the book.

I t doesn't mske you more clever but I have always enjoyed reading and have good general knowledge and sometimes surprise myself with things I know that I have picked up somewhere from reading, as. a child read anything and everything.

"the other poster saying she learned the word muslin [from a book]"

Yes, but she would have learnt it eventually in other ways.

I speak as an avid beyond belief reader and think its MASSIVE intellectual snobbery. Its like people who don't consider it "real" reading if its on a kindle.

Probably going to get flamed for this. But I do think reading displays a level of creative intelligence and imagination that visual mediums like theatre and film don't (I enjoy all three).

Although the book sets the scene, you have to use your imagination to transport yourself within it's pages and bring the characters to life.

Of course, it doesn't mean you aren't intelligent in other ways. I'm a complete thicko about a lot of things that others find simple.

"Mhm, I'm sorry but reading widely does make people more aware, interesting and knowledgable."

Reading novels isn't necessarily reading 'widely' though. I think people who read about current issues on the internet are more aware.