Highbrow isn't the way to look at it. I think what books do, primarily, is make the brain work in a different way, because you're constructing a visual and perh

Highbrow isn't the way to look at it. I think what books do, primarily, is make the brain work in a different way, because you're constructing a visual and perhaps audio interpretation of text. Which causes you to do a lot of world building yourself, whereas in Civilization it's the opposite. Neither is better or worse but they're different forms of mental exercise.