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Books are just another form of entertainment, and I wouldn't think of them as much more than that. Yes, there may be value in reading some books, and many of th

Books are just another form of entertainment, and I wouldn't think of them as much more than that. Yes, there may be value in reading some books, and many of them contain interesting facts and opinions, but the truth is that reading lots of books won't raise your IQ anymore than watching TV. It's become fashionable to boast or brag about how many books you read, but this is nothing more than signalling. Nobody really cares which books you've read, except it may be interesting to discuss books to help others find new ones that may interest them. I personally have read many, many books over the years and I've found that I tend to forget most of the information shortly after reading them, with some exceptions. For example, I tend to find it easy to retain primary themes (i.e., I've read a number of books about stoicism and I have hung on to the core tenets of the philosophy but I don't remember the specific details). These days I've caved into consuming audiobooks, mostly because they're extremely convenient. I like to listen to books while taking walks, which allows me to accomplish 2 things: 1) get some exercise, and 2) "read" a book. It's not really an additional time investment because I like to take walks anyway regardless of the book.

yters 7y ago
I've heard the best predictor of performance on IQ tests is number of books read. In my experience, reading a book forces me to conceptualize the content in a way watching TV and listening to audio does not. It is also faster than watching and listening. I think this has improved my conceptual thinking ability, as well as being able to articulate my thoughts, and expanded the number of concepts I can use in my thinking. My general experience is well read people seem to generally be more open minded and better able to understand other points of view. On the other hand, in the social media world of sound bites and text snippets, the ability to have a logically coherent extended discussion seems to be diminishing. Yes, it does sound like reading books can improve a person's mind, and that can sound elitist, but it may well be true.
- deleted 7y ago
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- AdrianB1 7y ago
  I think reading books correlates with IQ, but it does not increase it; it provides information and stimulate imagination and analytical thinking, but there is no known method to increase IQ.
  - yters 7y ago
    Why do you claim there is no known method to increase IQ? I can definitely tell a difference in my cognitive performance based on certain practices. For instance, the better I can hold a concept entirely in my head, the better and more rapidly I can reason about it. During a period I was memorizing and solving Soduku entirely in my head, and that produced a noticeable improvement in my memory capability. On the other hand, the less sleep I get, if I am out of shape, feeling depressed, etc. all have a negative impact on my cognitive performance. So, while there may be individualized hard limits on cognitive performance, it also seems clearly the case that an individual's cognitive performance can be greatly improved through various habits. Think of it akin to athletic training. Some people are born with an athletic predisposition, but everyone still benefits from working out, training and diet. Hard to see why the same cannot be true for cognitive performance. Now, taking the topic of reading vs more sensory media such as TV, the former require more internal cognitive processing to understand, whereas the latter minimize the amount of focus needed to consume the media. Based on my previous analysis, it would make sense that a reading habit would produce a higher cognitive performing individual than just consuming sensory media.
    - AdrianB1 7y ago
      I don't claim that, I read some psychology stuff (my sister-in-law is also a psychologist, but I am not considering her as an argument). I think I also saw a few clips with Jordan Peterson telling the same; even if you don't agree with him on other matters, he is a respected professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and he knows his stuff.
      - yters 7y ago
        Huh I have heard the same before, and I don't know why there is such certainty. Similar to the claim bad eyesight cannot be fixed through exercises, which is not totally correct.

yters 7y ago

I've heard the best predictor of performance on IQ tests is number of books read. In my experience, reading a book forces me to conceptualize the content in a way watching TV and listening to audio does not. It is also faster than watching and listening. I think this has improved my conceptual thinking ability, as well as being able to articulate my thoughts, and expanded the number of concepts I can use in my thinking. My general experience is well read people seem to generally be more open minded and better able to understand other points of view. On the other hand, in the social media world of sound bites and text snippets, the ability to have a logically coherent extended discussion seems to be diminishing. Yes, it does sound like reading books can improve a person's mind, and that can sound elitist, but it may well be true.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
AdrianB1 7y ago
I think reading books correlates with IQ, but it does not increase it; it provides information and stimulate imagination and analytical thinking, but there is no known method to increase IQ.
- yters 7y ago
  Why do you claim there is no known method to increase IQ? I can definitely tell a difference in my cognitive performance based on certain practices. For instance, the better I can hold a concept entirely in my head, the better and more rapidly I can reason about it. During a period I was memorizing and solving Soduku entirely in my head, and that produced a noticeable improvement in my memory capability. On the other hand, the less sleep I get, if I am out of shape, feeling depressed, etc. all have a negative impact on my cognitive performance. So, while there may be individualized hard limits on cognitive performance, it also seems clearly the case that an individual's cognitive performance can be greatly improved through various habits. Think of it akin to athletic training. Some people are born with an athletic predisposition, but everyone still benefits from working out, training and diet. Hard to see why the same cannot be true for cognitive performance. Now, taking the topic of reading vs more sensory media such as TV, the former require more internal cognitive processing to understand, whereas the latter minimize the amount of focus needed to consume the media. Based on my previous analysis, it would make sense that a reading habit would produce a higher cognitive performing individual than just consuming sensory media.
  - AdrianB1 7y ago
    I don't claim that, I read some psychology stuff (my sister-in-law is also a psychologist, but I am not considering her as an argument). I think I also saw a few clips with Jordan Peterson telling the same; even if you don't agree with him on other matters, he is a respected professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and he knows his stuff.
    - yters 7y ago
      Huh I have heard the same before, and I don't know why there is such certainty. Similar to the claim bad eyesight cannot be fixed through exercises, which is not totally correct.