[ SECRET POST #3833 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3833 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 35 secrets from Secret Submission Post #549.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

You're probably trolling, but reading actually makes you smarter.

What's the main tool in schools? Books, digital or paper, for a reason. Written language; transferable knowledge past borders and time, is the most efficient teaching technology to date. Giving yourself a larger vocabulary makes your brain able to handle more nuances and thus makes you able to think smarter on more things. Aren't you lucky.

[(Anonymous)]

Sure, but how many readers read educational books. DIY videos are more educational than your average book. Additionally language is the quickest way to transfer ideas, but only by doing does one become proficient at something.

[(Anonymous)]

I would also argue that verbal language is a better communicator than written language. But it is true that reading will increase your vocabulary so long as you're reading good books by writers who know how words work (some don't).

Reading is a tool. If you're someone who wants to learn by reading, but doesn't want to read all the time, then be selective about what you're reading. Read stories from author's who's experiences aren't like yours. Read stories from different cultures. Read works from different time periods and, if you're confused about the content, then look for the answers to those questions. Read non fiction, too. That is really the only way reading will make you smarter and enhance your world view.

[(Anonymous)]

DIY videos don't teach you new vocabulary like a non-fiction book does. You're creating a false equivalency. A good book will still do more to expand your vocabulary than a video. That's the important bit.

Expanding your vocab has the added effect of improving your ability to process and store information, because the way you do it is by a) gaining meaning from context; and, b) literally storing it in your mental database. This is good for your brain. Good for your mentation and the functioning of your intellect.

For me, it has nothing to do with oh! these people who don't read are such peons, but man, if I don't read my brain is stagnating, and I don't judge others, but I guess I think the lack of reading good books might be part of our societal problems. Reading is fundamental. It's a fundamental way to keep the brain making new connections.

[(Anonymous)]

A DIY video will show me how to do thing. A words only explaination requires me to decipher what the other person is saying and then try to do the thing, not entirely sure if I'm doing it right. Understanding concepts is the true purpose of learning. Vocab is a tool to understand those concepts, sure, but not the be all end all measure of knowledge.

[(Anonymous)]

Good lord, I'm not saying you shouldn't watch DIY videos! I'm saying that they don't do the same thing for your brain that reading does, which is what we were talking about.

[(Anonymous)]

your lack of reading comprehension is a good reason to maybe start reading more.

[(Anonymous)]

It depends! If I want to learn how to fit a security door, I'm going to watch a video. If I want to know about the 1812 War I'm going to read a book.

[(Anonymous)]

Most things approached correctly can make you smarter

And just reading books on its own does not necessarily make you smarter. it can very easily, but it doesn't necessarily.

[(Anonymous)]

Just reading books actually makes you smarter. Even bad, dumb books. There's a study on British dock workers (pre digital revolution) that showed that those of them who had grown up with the profession and never did anything else were using just 600 words in their daily life and knew about 800. I'm sure they were super smart in their narrow milieu, but they weren't equipped for much else. Had they had access to Wikipedia and used it, they would have been able to reproduce (talk to and get chicks) in other milieus too and therefore been even smarter.

[(Anonymous)]

Alright this is probably the point where we gotta start actually defining what we mean by "smart" if we're going to have a meaningful conversation

but that sounds really boring so I'm just gonna get on out of here

[(Anonymous)]

Here is what reading does for you according to developmental psychologists: expanded vocabulary, improved focus, improved ability to process and store information, and more logical thinking.

Sounds like "smarter."

[(Anonymous)]

That's some outdated ass psychology because any modern one will tell you verbal skills and hands on experience is more developmentally enriching than reading. Reading can make you "smarter" so long as you have the skills to work through it, it doesn't just magically make someone who reads "smart" and someone who is an auditory or visual learner "less smart"

[(Anonymous)]

So, you're demonstrating how some people just can't be helped.

[(Anonymous)]

To be fair OP didn't say reading doesn't make you smart, they said loving reading doesn't automatically make you smarter than others.

Tons of very smart people don't like to read, and tons of people who aren't as smart, love to. Happening to enjoy it doesn't justify acting like you're smarter than everyone else who doesn't enjoy it.

[(Anonymous)]

I laughed so hard at that secret
yep, reading actually does make you smarter
I never convince anyone to read more, though, less competition in getting job that way

[(Anonymous)]

That's not what OP said, though??

You could argue that reading a lot of various material makes someone smarter, but you can't assume that someone is smarter than others just because they enjoy reading, or that someone is stupider than others because they don't enjoy reading

It completely depends on what they're reading and what they're doing with it, and people who looove reading YA novels are... not automatically intellectuals, which is true enough

[(Anonymous)]

SA

Like, just because you looove football doesn't make you more athletic or fit than someone who doesn't particularly care for it but likes and does other things. To assume so is stupid

Yes, playing football will get you in better shape than you were before, maybe, if you do it right, but that doesn't make you automatically more fit than people who don't play football but play basketball, or run

[(Anonymous)]

It may not make a single individual better fit, but in aggregate, it will. Just like some people are just naturally fit but uh, not everyone is. Because guess what? There are tons and tons of people who could really benefit from reading more because they need the mental exercise, the expanded vocabulary, the increased communication skills, the lessons in basic logic.

So, edge casing individuals is a bad argument. "Oh, I'm already smart so I don't need to read" is the same as saying, "Not all men."

OP

[(Anonymous)]

This thread has generated some interesting responses.

'you can't assume that someone is smarter than others just because they enjoy reading, or that someone is stupider than others because they don't enjoy reading'

Popping in quick to clarify that this is what I meant. The secret is about people's feelings on reading.

'simply loving reading doesn't make you an intellectual'

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

"The secret is about people's feelings on reading."

Yeah, that was really clear to me?? It never talks about reading a lot or quality of reading or argues against reading making people smarter, it discusses people who think they are smart because they enjoy reading. Like, I have run into plenty of people at below-average reading and writing levels for their age being pretentious because looove books and they read all the time and others don't, and the stuff they're reading is like YA novels written for people 20 years younger than them. This is what the secret reminded me of

For all "reading makes you smarter!" going on in the thread the lack of reading comprehension on the secret is ironic

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe the person who brought it up needs to read more. Since that ACTUALLY makes you smarter.

[(Anonymous)]

For someone smug about reading, your grammar is atrocious.

[(Anonymous)]

Being on the internet is even better at making you smarter than reading.

"All study participants showed significant brain activity during the book-reading task, demonstrating use of the regions controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities, which are located in the temporal, parietal, occipital and other areas of the brain.

Internet searches revealed a major difference between the two groups. While all participants demonstrated the same brain activity that was seen during the book-reading task, the Web-savvy group also registered activity in the frontal, temporal and cingulate areas of the brain, which control decision-making and complex reasoning.

"Our most striking finding was that Internet searching appears to engage a greater extent of neural circuitry that is not activated during reading "

[(Anonymous)]

How are you "being on the internet" without reading?