[ SECRET POST #900 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #900 ⌋

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

101.


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102.
[Scrubs]


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103.
[Daniel Radcliffe & Tom Felton]


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104.
[Phantom of the Opera]


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105.
[Vampire Knight, Twilight]


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106.
[Fallout 3]


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107.


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108.
[Trek/SPN]


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109.
[Little Shop of Horrors]


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110.


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111.


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112.


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113.
[Pushing Daisies]


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114.


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115.


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116.
[Total Eclipse]


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117.
[Prison Break]


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118.


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119.
[MGS, FLCL]


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120.
[ReBoot]


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121.


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122.
[Super Junior]


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123.
[Producing Parker]


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124.
[LotR]


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125.


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126.


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127.


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128.


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129.
[FF9]


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130.
[Stephen Fry]


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131.


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132.


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133.


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134.


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135.


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136.


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137.


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138.


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139.


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140.


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141.


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142.


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143.
[Constantine]


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144.


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145.


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146.


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147.


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148.
[Hourou Musuko]


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149.
[Red Dragon]


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150.


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151.


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152.


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153.


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154.


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155.


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156.


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157.


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158.


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159.
[Secret Diary of a Call Girl]


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160.
[Stephen Colbert]


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161.


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162.


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163.


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164.


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165.


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166.


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167.


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168.


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169.


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170.


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171.


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172.


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173.


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174.


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175.
[NCIS]


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176.


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177.


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178.


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179.


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180.
[LOST]



Notes:

Sorry for the earliness.

Secrets Left to Post: 09 pages, 207 secrets from Secret Submission Post #129.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken ], [ 1 2 3 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - doing it wrong ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom.livejournal.com]

178. http://i43.tinypic.com/4i9us.png

[gnimaerd.livejournal.com]

This is true for me as well - and I'M studying English Literature! I do 'like' to read because I love stories - telling them, reading them, writing them - I'm fascinated by their construction and the way in which ideas and emotions are transmitted through them. I love words, and I love writing and I have a deep respect for books and authors. BUT - the actual physical act of reading is not something I particularly enjoy. Wherever possible, I listen to audio books instead - I find it much, MUCH easier to process the information that way and to then think about what I'm listening too. Reading takes me a long time and if it's something particularly dense (something like a Jane Austen novel - or Paradise Lost, which we were required to read last year) I have to go over and over the same pages in order to properly understand them. It can take me half an hour to get through what most people can in five minutes. Audio books are a life saver for me.

[(Anonymous)]

This doesn't bother me as much as the grammar=intelligence thing fandom does. I guess it's easier to deal with people's typos than their actual arguments or ideas.

Most people who like to write but not read are pure egotists though, so I can see how with all the bad fic they put out fandom might cling onto the reading as a sign of worth longer.

[flyingcharr.livejournal.com]

People say that they like to write but not read? Wow. I've heard some stupid things but that takes the cake.

[weallfallout.livejournal.com]

The grammar=intelligence thing is pretty much universal on the internet. It makes sense, really, since pretty much all anyone has to go by are your words.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh I know someone who writes but not reads.
They go on and on about how this is the case and then they start giving advice on writing they claim they haven't read.

[mizuno-caitlin.livejournal.com]

I'm curious. When you say "reading" does this refer to reading novels or all forms of text? Because I find myself reading fewer and fewer physical novels, magazines, and newspapers in favor of online/digital content these days. I still consider it "reading", just not the conventional kind. I'd struggle to tell you what the last "book" I read was even though I spend hours a day reading. But, reading and staying informed in general as a manifestation of intellectual curiosity is a pretty valid form of appraisal.

[snowdevil-crow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and it goes both ways.

I love reading, but I'm not exactly the top of my class... mostly because I spend more time reading than paying attention.

[thene]

Mmm, I have the opposite problem - I'm really bad at absorbing information visually. People don't get why I don't appreciate smart TV. :P I can understand the opposite.

[(Anonymous)]

OK, but why are you proud of this?

[(Anonymous)]

How is "don't look down on me for this" being proud of it?

[weallfallout.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not exactly an unfounded stereotype. Probaby the two most important skills you need to excel in school are reading (textbooks ;_;) and writing (papers ;_;). It generally holds that the more you read, the better you write.

Not that I don't know where you're coming from. The "girls are good at English and boys are good at Math" stereotype drives me up the wall.

[relmneiko.livejournal.com]

Technically speaking, though, girls are better in language skills and communication (English) and boys are better at the kind of abstract thinking and spatial relations involved in math. The reason girls tend to score higher in both overall is because the typical school environment (sit down, be quiet, pay attention - ever wonder why most universities have more girls than boys these days?) is easier on girls than on boys, who focus better in an active environment.

Of course it's a bell curve and there is variation, but the tendency is there.

[imnotasquirrel.livejournal.com]

I think that a love of reading is more of a stereotype of intellectuals. Being intellectual and being intelligent are not the same thing. I know plenty of people who are intelligent but not intellectuals. Er...I'm not saying that the OP is not an intellectual, just clarifying how I myself see the stereotype.

[maisedoat.livejournal.com]

But reading isn't just for information. It's for the way things are said, as well as what is said. It's for the beauty of a particular turn of phrase, or scene, the way it makes your brain supply the additional information necessary to form the pictures it is making.

I agree it's perfectly possible to be intelligent and not read. But much is missed and much is lost by not acquiring the habit.

[agnes-perdita.livejournal.com]

IDK, I think you can get that depth of imagery from sources other than (written) text. It really depends on how your brain works. I know that personally, I tend to think in (amorphous, hellishly confusing) images first and words second, so the idea of reading something and using that as the basis for creating the layers of meaning and visuals is actually really limiting because it takes me a lot of effort to scour through the words and make sure I've constructed everything accurately. Whereas, when I'm watching something or listening to something, it's just automatically easier for my brain to immediately create an understanding of the situation presented to me and additionally, I can mentally cross-reference other stores of knowledge in my brain much faster because I'm not concentrating as much on pinning down the words themselves.

Ugh, sorry for rambling on about me (MEMEME) but it takes a while to try and verbalise why ways of knowledge acquisition that are different from the one you've described can work and longer to paint a picture of it that is comprehensible to people who don't share that particular outlook. Anyway, the OP probably has their own way of reading their own nuances into information, but just wanted to explain a bit why reading itself can be quite frustrating if it's presented as the sole way of expanding your mind, you know?

[okelay.livejournal.com]

Reading is a essential skill. it also teaches spelling, comprehension, vocabulary,and a million other things.
people who read don't read cause they're smart, they're smart cause they read. if it wasn't for books we'd still be in that areas of low cultural development.
I have internet access and tv and a million other ways of obtaining information but reading a good novel is so much more than that. It's one of the most simple,greatest pleasure there is. you don't need batteries or anything. and you can completely lose yourself in it.
that's what's so wonderful about story-telling.

and yes, there are many ways to absorb information and visual is only one of them but that's not what your secret says.
I think what you're trying to say is that society looks down on people with other learning style besides visual and that's understandable, but what your secret is doing is actually being rather patronizing and offensive.

and I think you haven't quite gotten reading. I mean, reading is for much,much more than simply obtaining information. that's just a benefit.
and it's one thing to not like reading but what about story-telling?
you're putting the whole activity down as if it wasn't important and it is what I consider one of the defining acts of humanity.
and if you don't get that, if you don't the value of it, then ,no,you're not smart.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

and it's one thing to not like reading but what about story-telling?

The art of story telling isn't just limited to the medium of text, and I appreciate good storytelling as much as any other person lurking around in fandom secrets. And while a good story is a good story- no matter what medium it is expressed in, I personally understand stories told through visuals and/or audio better than those told through words, and thus, get a greater value out of those in most cases.

and I think you haven't quite gotten reading. I mean, reading is for much,much more than simply obtaining information. that's just a benefit.

For many years I thought that I didn't "get" reading. I thought that maybe some marvelous novel or short story would come along that would change my life and turn me into a reading maniac. As you probably guessed, despite all of the reading that I've been forced to do in order to maintain my high grades... that never happened. I've now accepted that the activity itself is just as much of a hobby that I don't enjoy as playing soccer or cooking is.

It's one of the most simple,greatest pleasure there is.

Different people find different activities to be pleasurable... and I personally find reading not only to be boring but painfully exhausting. An activity that I find to be "one of the most simple, greatest pleasures" would be something such as drawing or sewing... and just as as you feel with reading, I feel that I "can completely lose myself" in those two hobbies as well.

[(Anonymous)]

Um, sorry, but how is this related to fandom? =/
I'm not sure if 'reading' can be considered a fandom (are there, uh, fanart and fics on 'reading'? XD), but since no specific book series was mentioned, just how is this a fandom secret?

Maybe this would be more at home on ljsecret?

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Not that long ago there was a secret about believing that people who prefer to read comics are too "dumb" to read "real" books. There have been a fair amount of other secrets posted in the year and a half time I've been lurking here on F!S that seem to imply that reading = an indicator of intelligence. I agree that I'm cutting it close on the line between fandom and not fandom, but I figured that since my idea was covering a similar subject, though with a contrasting opinion, as though secrets I previously referred to, it would be a fandom secret.

[cutesiness.livejournal.com]

I loved reading as a kid. I used to read all the time. Still do, in fact. Except in college. Swimming through hundreds of pages about biology and physics each semester. Needless to say, the feeling is gone.

I do read a lot of articles and fanfiction on the internet. Though it's a different medium, I still consider it reading.

[(Anonymous)]

I believe this applies to me as well. Sure, I do read a lot and do quite a range, but it's mostly because I have to and it's a) my job and b) used to be part of my required course work. But if one were to get down to it, the urge to pick up something to read has never really caught on with me. Descriptive writing doesn't appeal to me as I find them long-winded and not getting to the point, which could explain my dislike for most novels/fiction (Far as reading stuff is concerned, I'd much rather prefer news, short blurbs, non fiction... and blogs, haha!) In fact, I can count the number of novels I picked up by CHOICE in the last 7 years on one hand. (2 are short story compilations, and the rest have big font sizes, are less than 300 pages and could be finished within a day.)

But to put things into perspective, OP, not only do I have a BA in English (Cue Avenue Q, people!), I also work in the business that deals with a lot of reading and writing. And yes, even fiction. And I write a lot, and used to write fanfiction when I was very young. I'd like to think maybe it's a case of the job killing the passion, only it isn't so because it was never there. I love watching TV and movies and gaming much, much more than reading. There were only two exceptions to stories I've read and loved and read AGAIN, and I'm over 30.

Certainly, loving to read makes life easier for studies, but if it's not something you enjoy, it's not something you enjoy. Besides, we already know that trashy novels are people's guilty pleasures. I certainly fail to see how reading over-glorified thesauruses raises one's intellegence. (Admittedly, I did have a real blast reading reviews of those who've read them and picked them apart.)

People gain knowledge through different means and mediums, and you don't seem to be doing a bad job despite being 'handicapped' by this inability to enjoy reading, but hey, if no one is being a douchebag over it, then I don't see the problem.

Just saying. ;)

[relmneiko.livejournal.com]

There is a certain kind of intelligence that doesn't involve reading. Man, I wish I could remember the name, but there was this (nonfiction) story I heard a while back about this kid who was a genius in physics... he had various escapades, one of which involved constructing a mini nuclear reactor out of like, paint from an old clock and some other stuff. Anyway, he screwed up and ended up (radioactively) contaminating a 20-block radius around his house. XD But get this: on the door to the garage where he did his experiments there was a sign that read something like, "DANGIR: REDIOAKTIV METERIAL" or something equally horribly misspelt. He was eventually hired by NASA, but he STILL flunked out of every highschool English class he took.

I wish I could remember this guy's name, though, it was a pretty crazy (but true!) story.

[imnotasquirrel.livejournal.com]

I think you may be thinking of David Hahn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn). However, this kid was never hired by NASA.

[sensualcoco.livejournal.com]

I'm semi with you there. I get good grades and all but when ever people ask me what books I like to read I get ashamed because I hate reading books. I like reading magazine articles and the newspaper and online fanfiction. But I just never read books.