Reading is a workout for the mind..

py2006

...as exercise is a workout for the body? Agree?

I heard that statement a few years ago and it always stuck with me.

Those who read on a regular basis have a sharper mind and are more articulate. Particularly for those who are not working at the moment it is a great way to keep the mind active as you can get pretty down otherwise.

Any thoughts?

EDIT: For the smart arses, obviously I am referring to books and newspapers etc

flutterflye

Reading what?
Books or facebook?

There are so many things you could do besides reading- puzzles, word games, or jigsaws, to name a few.

AhSureTisGrand

Only if you suck at reading

Emiko

I'd agree.

Keeping your mind more active also inhibits the onset of the symptoms of Alzheimer's in people who show other indications of having the disease.

--Kaiser--

"A mind need books like a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge"

or so I've read

ILikeBananas

I think there's definitely some truth to this. Along with travel it's a great mind opener.

The King of Moo

Absolutely. It's also a great de-stresser, takes your mind off the world.

I like this quote by Charles de Montesquieu:

“I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.”

Frank Black

The King of Moo wrote: »

Absolutely. It's also a great de-stresser, takes your mind off the world.

I like this quote by Charles de Montesquieu:

“I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.”

Yeah, but he probably never had a hot poker shoved up his @ss.

The King of Moo

black francis wrote: »

Yeah, but he probably never had a hot poker shoved up his @ss.

A name like that does suggest quite a pampered life, but reading's still a great release from first-world problems

I don't think it matters. Surely reading and watching TV are the same thing? If it's a book or TV show you like, your mind will be occupied by it and will function throughout trying to keep up with the story and put the pieces together?


Whereas I've often watched a tv show or flicked through a few pages of a book and I'd suddenly realise I haven't a clue what's going on in it and I can't remember what i seen/read five minutes ago because I've no interest whatsoever.

So I'd say I don't agree. If your mind is occupied it's occupied, regardless of what you're focusing on.

jester77

reading oft too frequently used txt speak & poor grammar is definitely a work out

conorhal

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

"A mind need books like a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge"

or so I've read

Martin has another great quote on the subject:

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, while a man that does not read lives only one."

py2006

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't think it matters. Surely reading and watching TV are the same thing? If it's a book or TV show you like, your mind will be occupied by it and will function throughout trying to keep up with the story and put the pieces together?


Whereas I've often watched a tv show or flicked through a few pages of a book and I'd suddenly realise I haven't a clue what's going on in it and I can't remember what i seen/read five minutes ago because I've no interest whatsoever.

So I'd say I don't agree. If your mind is occupied it's occupied, regardless of what you're focusing on.

Wow!

There is a huge difference between reading a good book and watching a tv show.

While reading a book your brain is focused on interpreting the words on the page and your imagination is developing images from it.

You watch a tv blindly as the brain work is done for you!

--Kaiser--

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't think it matters. Surely reading and watching TV are the same thing? If it's a book or TV show you like, your mind will be occupied by it and will function throughout trying to keep up with the story and put the pieces together?


Whereas I've often watched a tv show or flicked through a few pages of a book and I'd suddenly realise I haven't a clue what's going on in it and I can't remember what i seen/read five minutes ago because I've no interest whatsoever.

So I'd say I don't agree. If your mind is occupied it's occupied, regardless of what you're focusing on.

Firstly, if you're reading something you have to imagine it yourself, rather than having it shown to you.

Secondly, taking in information through television is much, much slower. I watched a documentary about Hiroshima the other week, apart from some of the images, the actual information imparted could have been relayed in a few pages.

Frank Black

I never understood people who aren't into reading - one of my friends would never read a book - getting him to read 'Watchmen' was an achievement.

Feel sorry for people like this - I think they miss out on a lot.

--Kaiser--

black francis wrote: »

I never understood people who aren't into reading - one of my friends would never read a book - getting him to read 'Watchmen' was an achievement.

Feel sorry for people like this - I think they miss out on a lot.

Plus reading - in general - increases your vocabulary.
Words are the building blocks of thought

locked_out

Once stupid, always stupid.

Donal Og O Baelach

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

I watched a documentary about Hiroshima the other week, apart from some of the images, the actual information imparted could have been relayed in a few pages.

This is a good point, an increasing amount of documentaries these days are padded to the last with pointless waffle and prolonged dramatic build up for suspense.

mikom

py2006 wrote: »

Those who read on a regular basis have a sharper mind and are more articulate. Particularly for those who are not working at the moment it is a great way to keep the mind active as you can get pretty down otherwise.

Worked for Anders Behring Breivik.

py2006

locked_out wrote: »

Once stupid, always stupid.

Is that your excuse for not reading?

raah!

When people say that they don't just mean reading pamphlets. Just reading will only make you better at reading, it's just that over the course of history many people have written some very intellectually edifying stuff. And this doesn't mean Harry Potter.

recylingbin

py2006 wrote: »

...as exercise is a workout for the body? Agree?

I heard that statement a few years ago and it always stuck with me.

Those who read on a regular basis have a sharper mind and are more articulate. Particularly for those who are not working at the moment it is a great way to keep the mind active as you can get pretty down otherwise.

Any thoughts?

EDIT: For the smart arses, obviously I am referring to books and newspapers etc

TL;DR

Retrovertigo

jester77 wrote: »

reading oft too frequently used txt speak & poor grammar is definitely a work out

I recommend you start on a few Anne and Barry books.

GLaDOS

Much rather read a book than watch TV personally

ScumLord

Depends what your reading, Spot goes shopping isn't going to do anything for you. I don't think it's fair to say reading something will make automatically bring about improvements.

Davidius

Sounds plausible but I would think that there's plenty of other means of keeping yourself sharp.

Personally I don't read much and I generally don't enjoy reading just for reading's sake. I find I don't have much of an attention span and I even have trouble getting comfortable while holding a book. I would say that I'm more intelligent than most people though I wouldn't describe myself as articulate or making sentence good.

That's assuming you mean reading fiction or generally reading as a hobby. I will read a book on something technical/factual because I'm interested in the information and you can't really get a good exposure to it otherwise. I would think most people will read about a topic if they're genuinely interested.

If I'm looking for entertainment I'll just play a game or watch something.

Earthhorse

The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them. - Mark Twain

Frank Black

Davidius wrote: »

Sounds plausible but I would think that there's plenty of other means of keeping yourself sharp.

Personally I don't read much and I generally don't enjoy reading just for reading's sake. I find I don't have much of an attention span and I even have trouble getting comfortable while holding a book. I would say that I'm more intelligent than most people though I wouldn't describe myself as articulate or making sentence good.


.

Please edit your post, as it's taking every ounce of self-control to avoid making a smartarse comment.

Davidius

black francis wrote: »

Please edit your post, as it's taking every ounce of self-control to avoid making a smartarse comment.

I'm uncertain of whether you've just spotted the joke or you're seeing something I'm not.

bnt

AhSureTisGrand wrote: »

Only if you suck at reading

Not really - reading doesn't have to feel like a workout for it to be good mental exercise. :pac:

ScumLord wrote: »

Depends what your reading, Spot goes shopping isn't going to do anything for you. I don't think it's fair to say reading something will make automatically bring about improvements.

The more you read, the more you learn about word usage, too. There are many words that sound the same but are written differently, and you can't learn to use them properly in writing from hearing them spoken. So, I hope you don't take this the wrong way - but your use of "your" in place of "you're" is, in my opinion, a clear sign that you need to read more.

coco_lola

It really depends what you are reading though!

I love reading, so many films have come out based on books and they never do the book justice, partly because of the chunks that the director chooses to leave out so the film isnt too long, but mainly because the movie does not reflect the images I created in my head. None of the characters or places in Harry Potter looked anything like what I had created in my head, when I watched the movies.

Davidius

bnt wrote: »

The more you read, the more you learn about word usage, too. There are many words that sound the same but are written differently, and you can't learn to use them properly in writing from hearing them spoken. So, I hope you don't take this the wrong way - but your use of "your" in place of "you're" is, in my opinion, a clear sign that you need to read more.

You can make that slip without being ignorant of how the word is supposed to be written. I'm skeptical that reading will somehow cause you to not make very simple mistakes like that, I occasionally evaluate 6*7 as 48 in quick calculations in spite of knowing it's 42.

ScumLord

bnt wrote: »

The more you read, the more you learn about word usage, too. There are many words that sound the same but are written differently, and you can't learn to use them properly in writing from hearing them spoken. So, I hope you don't take this the wrong way - but your use of "your" in place of "you're" is, in my opinion, a clear sign that you need to read more.

Well done to you sir, I shall employ you as my official spell checker to the scum empire from now on, Google has failed me for the last time. Obedience whippings start at 7am sharp but I think you'll find your work cage quite sufficient with it's inbuilt water dispenser.

Frank Black

Davidius wrote: »

I'm uncertain of whether you've just spotted the joke or you're seeing something I'm not.

I think my sarcasm meter is acting up lately.

Sleepy

The quality of what's being read is the important factor here. Non-fiction that introduces you to new concepts (e.g. reading A Brief History of Time, A theory of relativity or even something as relatively light as Freakonomics) will clearly sharpen one's mind somewhat.

The latest Jodi Picoult or Jordan "autobiography", I fear, are more likely to have the opposite effect (or at least make you seem more stupid).

chin_grin

<snooty>Yeah depends on what you're reading. If it's some celebrity hardback then no. Likewise for a few of the "undesirable" newspapers. (You know which I mean!). </snooty>

I'll leave you with this.

"If you've only ever read one book I'd kindly ask you to keep your mouth shut."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO8F1HJjzkA

Agricola

Definitely. If you are read to a lot as a child and then continue to keep it up yourself, you'll have a better grasp of grammar and syntax and probably a larger vocabulary too.

ScumLord

Agricola wrote: »

Definitely. If you are read to a lot as a child and then continue to keep it up yourself, you'll have a better grasp of grammar and syntax and probably a larger vocabulary too.

Words like Hogwarts, vampire lovers and other such nonsense from popular books.

Unless the book is giving new information or teaching you something I don't see how reading fiction is going to do anything for you.

Koltashe

I personally see a major difference in my friends who do read a lot and those who don’t. Those who read a lot are more open minded, have interest in theatre, classical music, art etc. They tend to fill up their free time with meaningful activities; they are constantly learning something new and have valuable points and opinions in conversations.

While those who don’t read spend all their free time watching TV series, then discussing those same TV series, and are constantly on Facebook. Their interests are exceptionally limited and they never have anything interesting or valuable to add to a conversation.

Same goes for guys I’ve dated/been married to, you can always tell if a person reads or not. People who read a lot have knowledge on a wider variety of topics, and I mean actual knowledge and understanding not a load of useless facts they picked up on the net.

ScumLord

Koltashe wrote: »

People who read a lot have knowledge on a wider variety of topics, and I mean actual knowledge and understanding not a load of useless facts they picked up on the net.

So when you read something on the net it's useless facts but if you read it in a book it becomes knowledge and understanding?

How is it books have this magical ability to impart more valuable knowledge than monitor screens?

bnt

ScumLord wrote: »

So when you read something on the net it's useless facts but if you read it in a book it becomes knowledge and understanding?

How is it books have this magical ability to impart more valuable knowledge than monitor screens?

Well, I don't know who said that, but I know I didn't. By "books" I assumed the OP meant e-books too, or even well-written articles in newspapers or on reputable websites e.g. Salon.com or the Huffington Post. Anything that has been looked over by an editor, basically: they're the ones that catch silly mistakes before they go in to print, no matter what the "print" is on. Heck, even the Irish Times will do in a pinch, though they do sometimes let a few clangers slip through. :cool:

Koltashe

ScumLord wrote: »

So when you read something on the net it's useless facts but if you read it in a book it becomes knowledge and understanding?

How is it books have this magical ability to impart more valuable knowledge than monitor screens?

Here's an example of what I meant:

A discussion came up about Daniel O'connell, we argued whether he was born in Derrynane or cahersiveen, his political veiws, whether or not he should have joined the British parliament, what year the emancipation was granted etc... then a 'non book reading' friend of mine who was silent for the whole conversation pipes up saying that you couldn't throw a stone over a wall in dublin at the time without hitting one of O'connells b@stards, ie that he slep around so much and fathered a rediculous amount of children. Its a useless fact she read on some website and when we tried to protest it by refering to the loving letters O'Connell wrote to his wife and his devotion to her she simply had no idea what we were talking about and had nothing else to add to the conversation.

there is an abundance of knowledge and information on the net but many choose to only gather simple unverified facts.

Koltashe

bnt wrote: »

Well, I don't know who said that, but I know I didn't. By "books" I assumed the OP meant e-books too, or even well-written articles in newspapers or on reputable websites e.g. Salon.com or the Huffington Post. Anything that has been looked over by an editor, basically: they're the ones that catch silly mistakes before they go in to print, no matter what the "print" is on. Heck, even the Irish Times will do in a pinch, though they do sometimes let a few clangers slip through. :cool:

It was me who said that, but I was referring to unedited articles, websites, blogs and journals that any one of us can write and post on the internet. Or those '1000' interesting facts websites and lists many of which have never been varified or confirmed.

stevenmu

Koltashe wrote: »

Same goes for guys I’ve dated/been married to, you can always tell if a person reads or not. People who read a lot have knowledge on a wider variety of topics, and I mean actual knowledge and understanding not a load of useless facts they picked up on the net.

You can pick up a hell of a lot of knowledge on the net, but like with books it depends on where you go. If you rely purely on AH and facebook for your net-reading, you'd learn more by hitting yourself over the head with a saucepan.

Even just on boards.ie there's an incredible wealth of knowledge about any topic you can think of, many of the forums here have world class experts in their fields contributing their expertise, all of it easily available to search for or browse through. And of course there's countless other sites out there of varying degrees of usefulness. The trick is just finding the right ones (and it's usually not that hard).

ScumLord

Koltashe wrote: »

there is an abundance of knowledge and information on the net but many choose to only gather simple unverified facts.

True but it's all information, even information from reputable sources with the best of intentions can be wrong, it's up to the individual to root out bad information. It's why I think we should be teaching children how to critic information and be able to research and compare information. In this day and age everything they need to know is at their fingertips they just need the skills to separate nonsense from sense.

Even though I've read on historical figures I couldn't give you to many details on anyone I've read about because that information doesn't stay in my head, my memory seem to synopsis my information and then throw away the details as I don't need to hold onto that information I can always find it again if needed.

mikom

I've never debated with a book.

Saila

black francis wrote: »

I never understood people who aren't into reading [insert anything else here, sport, walking, enjoying the outdoors ect]- one of my friends would never read a book do this - getting him to read 'Watchmen' try it was an achievement.

Feel sorry for people like this - I think they miss out on a lot.

see works the same for everything

I started out reading as a child, and enjoyed it, the fun stories I mean, rohl dahl sort of stuff, then in my teens dropped it favour of other interests. It wasnt really a conscious decision, it just evolved like that. Anyway, no I dont agree and think its a snobish to think if you dont read regularly then chances are you will be less articulate, but I would if you had have said read regularly for a sustained period early on as a child, there is no doubting that.

py2006

I just had a good route around my stuff!! I have a crap load of books yet to be read!!

What does that say about my mind?