What's the story with people who read books

Haha, was that pun intended?

I used to love to read when I was younger. But when I started to get book reports that were due in X amount of time I got sick of them. I was turned off of books. Now I don't read unless I have to.

People who read books aren't necessarily more intelligent, but smart people who read books are much more learned than smart people who don't read books.

 

 

 

Oh, and no reason to be grandiloquent.

 

 

 

Do these pseudo-intellectuals not realize that some people in this world have extremely busy schedules and can't be cabbaged to devote a large amount of time to read a book?

 

Seriously, how long does it take you to watch a movie? two hours a day? Yet for some reason you can't spend those hours reading?

 

 

 

 

I like reading books from time to time, but I am not one of these would be philosophers who try to read as many fiction stories as possible. Sure, your vocabulary and writing skills may improve if you constnatly have your nose in a book. But what does that really do other than make you appear to be more intelligent? Anyone can come out with a sentence full of complex words and whether they truly know the words or not does not make a difference in how smart the person truly is at the end of the day.

 

 

 

Smart people have a larger vocabulary... :roll: Just look at how scientists and college professors talk!

 

 

 

 

I remember on another forum someone posted a statistic saying X percent of american families do not own/read X amount of books, and people were discussing how sad that was.

 

It's sad because it shows how more and more families sit glued to a T.V. set day in and day out. Television chews up the concepts a spits them out for you, no brain power required. Plus, most T.V. shows today are trashy, mindless sitcoms, stupid, sugarcoated reality shows, incredibly violent programs, or government propaganda. *Cough*FOX News*Cough*

 

Reminds me of Ray Brabury's 451, but of course you wouldn't have any idea what that is since you don't read... -.-

 

 

 

 

 

 

What happened was he checked in, and he was carrying a book I had read called Absurdistan, and I tried to strike up a conversation with him about it. ANd the guy just looks at me and kind of says, "You didn't really understand it, did you?" And I was just like, "Um...yeah, I did." And he just shakes his head and says something about how all girls read are Danielle Steele and romance novels, and then "pretend" to be literate by name dropping books names and authors, and he gave me this LOOK. I could have slapped him. What is this, the fifties?

 

 

 

What a FAT, chauvinist PIG!!

Now, if you were an adult and wishing that your children grew up learning some life lessons in school, would you not want your children to learn these kind of things? Well that is exactly what we are being taught through reading novels in school. If we analyze books tot he point that we pick out specific themes, we can teach ourselves and future generations many great things about life and how to live it.

 

 

 

Oh, let me have at least one child that loves to read, to take to the library and give all those wonderful books I read as a child... Let me see him or her sit on the couch, immersed in another world and driving me mad asking "muuuuuum, what does [insert difficult word] mean?"

 

 

 

I don't think reading makes anyone smarter per se, but it can contribute to a better understanding of the world and of people. Especially for children, whose world is still so small and so self-centered, it can be so crucial to "broaden their minds". And it's a great outlet for their wonderful fantasy.

 

 

 

However, I'm convinced that other media are capable of doing the same. Films certainly aren't "lower" on the ladder. As with books, there's a lot of diversity in quality.

I don't read fiction, but i do read non fiction. i know someone who hates me and i don't know why, im never mean or anything bad but when i go near him if hes doing something or if i got to one of my friends that are near him he gets angry at me. I think it has something to do with me not reading books at school and he thinks i don't read or something.

 

 

 

I always stick up for him (he gets bullied quite allot) but he just goes off at me.

Now, if you were an adult and wishing that your children grew up learning some life lessons in school, would you not want your children to learn these kind of things? Well that is exactly what we are being taught through reading novels in school. If we analyze books tot he point that we pick out specific themes, we can teach ourselves and future generations many great things about life and how to live it.

 

 

 

Oh, let me have at least one child that loves to read, to take to the library and give all those wonderful books I read as a child... Let me see him or her sit on the couch, immersed in another world and driving me mad asking "muuuuuum, what does [insert difficult word] mean?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your obviously missing the point. I'm not saying go give a 300 page book to your 7 year old. What I am saying is that after they have learned to read, and learned to think for themselves (AKA, High school) then make them read these books in order for them to attempt to absorb some life lessons.

Same reason people post 'In before lock'.

 

 

 

Because they can.

Same reason people post 'In before lock'.

 

 

 

Because they can.

 

 

 

Not entirely true. I do that because i get teh lulz.

Now, if you were an adult and wishing that your children grew up learning some life lessons in school, would you not want your children to learn these kind of things? Well that is exactly what we are being taught through reading novels in school. If we analyze books tot he point that we pick out specific themes, we can teach ourselves and future generations many great things about life and how to live it.

 

 

 

Oh, let me have at least one child that loves to read, to take to the library and give all those wonderful books I read as a child... Let me see him or her sit on the couch, immersed in another world and driving me mad asking "muuuuuum, what does [insert difficult word] mean?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your obviously missing the point. I'm not saying go give a 300 page book to your 7 year old. What I am saying is that after they have learned to read, and learned to think for themselves (AKA, High school) then make them read these books in order for them to attempt to absorb some life lessons.

 

 

 

Huh? How am I missing the point? I am completely serious, actually. I'd be sorely disappointed if my children didn't read, so I sincerely hope at least one of them does. I myself bugged my parents to teach me how to read at the tender age of 4.

 

 

 

I don't agree they should only start to read at high school, they should start to read as soon as they're learning to read. Learning about life happens from the day we're born, not just when we're adolescents. To say that children only learn to think for themselves at highschool, is sorely underestimating their abilities. There are plenty of meaningful books for all ages. Truth doesn't only stem from big, inaccessible works of literature (even though they can be great as well, obviously).

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Now, if you were an adult and wishing that your children grew up learning some life lessons in school, would you not want your children to learn these kind of things? Well that is exactly what we are being taught through reading novels in school. If we analyze books tot he point that we pick out specific themes, we can teach ourselves and future generations many great things about life and how to live it.

 

 

 

Oh, let me have at least one child that loves to read, to take to the library and give all those wonderful books I read as a child... Let me see him or her sit on the couch, immersed in another world and driving me mad asking "muuuuuum, what does [insert difficult word] mean?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your obviously missing the point. I'm not saying go give a 300 page book to your 7 year old. What I am saying is that after they have learned to read, and learned to think for themselves (AKA, High school) then make them read these books in order for them to attempt to absorb some life lessons.

 

 

 

Huh? How am I missing the point? I am completely serious, actually. I'd be sorely disappointed if my children didn't read, so I sincerely hope at least one of them does. I myself bugged my parents to teach me how to read at the tender age of 4.

 

 

 

I don't agree they should only start to read at high school, they should start to read as soon as they're learning to read. Learning about life happens from the day we're born, not just when we're adolescents. To say that children only learn to think for themselves at highschool, is sorely underestimating their abilities.

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Ah ok, I get you. I didnt mean Kids should only read in high school, but I ment that they should be reading books that make them think about life and give life changing ideas only in high school. To give it to them before hand is a waste because although some students may not have a problem understanding them, the majority will or will not care at that level. In high school, we are faced with the reality that we are growing up and will be out in the world by ourselves soon, so people might take the themes and life lessons more seriously then.

The thing which irks me more than hardcore bookworms (i like to read, i read on a daily basis actually), are people who downright refuse to read a book. For no reason, almost like they have been brainwashed by parents of friends that books are for nerds and geeks and if they do read they will be transformed permanently into a nerd... or something :uhh:

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not kidding, I know a lot of people who would enjoy many books, but simply refuse to even try to read, it's not like they're contageous or something? :-?

Yeah, YEAH! I totally agree with this rant. I consider the internet a superior source of information, and haven't touched a book in God knows how long. I'm sick of people that read acting all high and mighty.

However, I'm convinced that other media are capable of doing the same. Films certainly aren't "lower" on the ladder. As with books, there's a lot of diversity in quality.

 

 

 

I agree. In my opinion the educational value of the medium movie is way to little appreciated. Although i did enjoy the books i had to read for school, it was always about books and never about movies. There is a wealth of amazing movies out there that are equally nourishing to the mind as good books are.

Same reason people post 'In before lock'.

 

 

 

Because they can.

 

 

 

Not entirely true. I do that because i get teh lulz.

 

 

 

but books can also contain lulz.

 

 

 

seriously though, i havent met a lot of people like that in real life, but the internet seems to be crawling with elitist book people. It really gets annoying (as do most kinds of elitism), but I think the reading is for [bleep]s attitude that I come across at school is far more annoying.

*Removes his head from his [wagon]* I'm not sure where you came up with this...I'm a "book reader", and while I do feel like I'm smarter than the average bear, it isn;t because I read. It's because I am. Schedule or not, it doesn;t say much about your IQ when you express disgust at the slightest thought of having to read (yes, I know people like this. Many people.).

 

 

 

+1.

 

I don't tend to think of people who don't read books as puny failures who will be scrubbing my toilet later in life, but in general, i think people who read books generally are smarter.

 

However, i dont shovel my sentences filled with pointless complex words. People like you won't understand me :PJust kidding :XD:

Myself, I don't read particularly many books, maybe 2 to 5 a year if I can be bothered. It's a good change from audiovisual media, you can use your mind to intepret events and places in a book (fictional or not).

 

 

 

However, nearly every very intelligent person I met (ranging from anywhere between 20 and 60 years) were avid readers of books. No, they didn't spend a whole lot of time watching 24 or Big Brother on TV. No, they didn't listen to country, heavy metal or pop music all day. They *read*.

 

 

 

And guess what, truly intelligent people don't have the need to bring up their own intelligence, or the other person's intelligence in a real discussion! (Or you can do it for comedy purposes in a smart fashion like Maddox, but not many people can do that)

 

 

 

By reading books, seeing how people can live in different cultures and ways, understanding how problems can have complex roots and complex answers, you can become a truly wise/tolerant person, increase your vocabulary, make your brain work more effectively as it understands there are many ways to fix something...

 

 

 

Because frankly, most of the real pseudo-intellectuals I know that get drunk every second day, spend their free time watching reality TV and talking bad about their neighbours, also express irrational hate against some people/groups, always emphasize their own 'smartness', and don't even try to understand other points of view/alternative solutions... They're the real peanut brains.

I, personally, love to read. It's just so wonderful to see how the author can use words to create a whole universe inside my head. I read for entertainment purposes and pretty much always have. My parents tell me that I went through a phase when i was 7 or 8 where I would check out nothing but astronomy books. That is a fascinating subject to me, still.

 

 

 

Currently, I am reading 2 books, because it's easier to leave one at school than shuttle it back and forth every day. I read several books a month. If other kids think I'm crazy, I don't care. It's just what I do. If I use bigger words, it's because they can state what I mean more effectively. I'm not trying to show off.

Honestly, Its not much better to be stereotyping that all book readers think that way.

 

 

 

I read books to pass the time, to explore a fantasy world away from my regular life. Its just like playing runescape. now while you're nto supposed to runn off to fantasy when life gets rough on you, it is a good retreat. If there are people who think book reading makes you smarticle, they're morons.

I wish I could reply to every post, but since this forum does not have a multi-quote button I can't be cabbaged to spend an hour copy/pasting :x

 

 

 

I will make a few points at some of the general ideas that have been replied, I'm not addressing anyone or post in particular.

 

 

 

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I did not mean to say all book readers are like that. I thought I made it clear enough. Apologies if you misunderstood me or I was not clear enough. Not all book readers are like that. :

 

 

 

This was not intended to be about whether hardcore bookworms are smarter than nonreaders nor about whether reading makes one smarter or not. It was about elitist bookworms and their superiority complex over people who simply don't enjoy reading books as much as they do or don't have time to read books to begin with. (yes I am aware that elitists exist everywhere in everything, but book elitists are true scum. Elitists in other fields usually are because they are good at what they do, or are veterans and more experienced. Not just because they do somehting others couldn't care less about)

 

 

 

This isn't necessarely about reading in general. Even the most nonacademic peoples have some things they will enjoy reading. Whether it be about their favorite hobby, their religious texts, or the odd article here and there in the newspaper. Sorry to any people still in k-12 school, but it has nothign to do with a person's enjoyment of reading if they don't like to read books (which usually refer to text books and other books assigned in class)

 

 

 

I remember one post in this thread commenting about me saying that some people don't have time to read a book and their rebuttal was that they find time to spend two hours on a movie. Big difference there. With a movie there is an endless number of house chores and other activities you can do while still being able to keep enough focus on the movie. WIth a book, you are VERY limited to what you can do while reading. The most you can do without severely disrupting your reading is limited to walking on a treadmill or using the stationary bike. There may be a few others, but these strike me as the most obvious.

 

 

 

I'm not saying books are bad. Books are good, but they are not for everyone, and they don't have to be. Is it truly some kind of sin to society that one does not enjoy reading a book, god forbid even have the time to devote solely to that?

 

 

 

Reading a book does require more thought and produces a deeper connection with the reader than a movie does, I am not arguing that. Does that necessarely make the person who reads books for entertainment purposes intellectually superior to a person who does not enjoy reading books as much as the other?

 

 

 

I wish I could go into more detail and reply to most of the posts in here, but as I said, I can't be cabbaged to spend anoher half hour copying text and quote tags.

 

:-w

Reading might not make you more intelligent, but it sure makes you better at expressing the intelligence you naturally have. And since we have no other way of grading intelligence except from what is expressed, people that read will appear more intelligent.

I like reading, but only because I like stories. I can say that reading a lot, and I mean a lot, probably has changed how I talk/write. I feel good when I pick up and book and jump right into a story with characters who don't do anything but what they do naturally. You can't do that in real life. If you jumped into a crowd of people and told them to do what they normally do, they'd probably turn around and look at you like you are crazy. So, technically, you probably only get a few bookworms who think of themselves as more superior then most human beings.

 

 

 

You will find that there are far more bookworms, who just read for fun not to feel more "superior" then the average human, that will talk to someone, who dislikes reading, as they would anyone else.

 

 

 

Maybe you just happened to find some rotten apples?

Intelligence is probably best viewed as multifaceted, although we still do not know precisely what its facets are, how many 'general intelligences' humans really have or how to measure many of them. Indeed, some facets of intelligence, such as general problem-solving ability, may be universal, whereas others depend on cultural and historical developments. Perhaps intelligence is as much the match between a person and a time as a quality of a single individual.

 

 

 

There is the psychometric approach, Spearman's two factor theory, other factor theories, Gf-Gc theory and many more if people are interested in reading about them (or listening to shows about them or any other possible way you wish to absorb information).

 

 

 

Reading books is still a contributing factor but not a single factor to intelligence.

 

 

 

Maybe you have just come across some arrogant air-heads? But then the question is, wouldn't they still be arrogant air-heads if they did not read?

 

 

 

So is reading the problem? Or is it personality?

Someone probably already pointed this out, but here goes.

 

 

 

 

 

People who read alot don't have to do anything to make themselves appear more intelligent,

 

because it's the intelligent people who are more inclined to read books in the first place.

 

If you think people who are heavy readers are smarter than you, it's because they probably

 

are. They're not smarter because they read, they read because they're smarter.

 

 

 

 

 

Mother nature gives you brains, or brawn, but rarely does she give you both. The weak,

 

sickly nerdy kids stay inside and read, become scientists, cure cancer, whereas the

 

people who inherited the other half go play sports and become football stars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Books are, however cliche it may sound, like a gateway to another world. The rules don't apply

 

there; anything can happen.

 

 

 

It's not uncommon for me to become very depressed after I finish a good book, or especially

 

a series, because for me it's like all the characters in the book have died. If the author doesn't

 

write any more adventures for the characters to have, it feels to me as if they're dead.

 

 

 

Books were my friends when I was a child and nobody else would be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could type for hours about the virtues of books and reading, but given the topic of this thread

 

I doubt you'd bother to read it.

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What's the story with people who read books (usually fiction type books- for entertainment) who think that they are some kind of supreme intelligent being and that people who do not read books are, well to put it bluntly, idiots.

 

 

 

Is it some kind of revolutionary concept that different people have different likes and dislikes? Is a person mentally lacking because they prefer watching a movie over reading a book? Do these pseudo-intellectuals not realize that some people in this world have extremely busy schedules and can't be cabbaged to devote a large amount of time to read a book?

 

I like reading books from time to time, but I am not one of these would be philosophers who try to read as many fiction stories as possible. Sure, your vocabulary and writing skills may improve if you constnatly have your nose in a book. But what does that really do other than make you appear to be more intelligent? Anyone can come out with a sentence full of complex words and whether they truly know the words or not does not make a difference in how smart the person truly is at the end of the day.

 

I remember on another forum someone posted a statistic saying X percent of american families do not own/read X amount of books, and people were discussing how sad that was.

 

 

 

Anyone else feel the same or am I the only one who hates scum that try to validate their intelligence or lack thereof?

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I dont think people read books for the purpose to impress others with their reading skills. Nor do I think people read hundreds of books each year just to validate their intelligence. Seriously, why should they?

 

 

 

I read books, and love my books, because they give me great joy. This is the reason why all we book-lovers read. I can travel to places I never been to plus I experience so many things via my books that ultimately broadens my horizon.

 

 

 

A professor once said, that reading does things to your brain that watching TV will never do; It create images and memories, stimulates your imagination and teaches you about empathy. It is also proven that reading creates more brain-cells then visual experience.

 

 

 

I have read so many books through my lifetime, and many of them I remember even after many years! When I read I can go back in time, travel through the ages and be a dutchess at a castle or ride the waves with pirates. Isnt that wonderfull!

 

 

 

I also enjoy watching TV but that makes my brain lazy, because the directors in the movie have made all the work for me, my imagination is then put in sleep-modus.

 

 

 

You really should try to read instead of watching TV, because your brain needs the stimulus. I bet if you start to read at least one book per month, you will be hooked, just like the rest of us :

 

 

 

 

Maybe you have just come across some arrogant air-heads? But then the question is, wouldn't they still be arrogant air-heads if they did not read?

 

 

 

So is reading the problem? Or is it personality?

 

 

 

Im inclined to belive that the latter is the truth here :|