I couldn’t possibly express my opinion on this subject better than **Manda JO ** did. The hiker analogy was spot-on, as was the comment about people who “do” stuff. I am kind of an obsessive reader (not a brag…I’m like an ADD type who needs a lot of incoming info, but my retention is not always that great). My husband is the opposite…doesn’t read a lot, but remembers everything he reads & is very knowledgeable in some areas. He is also much more prone do actually DOING and ACCOMPLISHING things than I am, and I deeply envy this trait.
Not only do I love reading, but unlike the pasty, geek, overweight, bookworm stereotype, if we ever met in real life, and you attacked me, I’d kick your ass. 
There, now that I’ve bragged about my reading I’ll take a copy of the home game, providing there are any left.
I dunno why anybody would think reading in general is the noblest of pursuits, but I would posit that learning is. Especially learning that benifits more than yourself, like learning how to do CPR, learning (education) to become a Medical Doctor or a scientist. Learning to paint and painting (many artists would argue that they too never stop learning more about their art), learning to dance or cook. (as per your examples.
I guess reading could be considered a form of learning, though for many like myself, it is just a form of escapism as mentioned by a previous poster. I do learn by reading (I am a full time student and read non-fiction stuff on the side), but not as much as I read for escape. Escapism is DEFINATELY not a noble pursuit. Nothing terrible about it in small doses, but it can certainly be detrimental.
I admit I am in the camp that thought the OP was derriding reading in general, so perhaps my response wasn’t called for, but I still stand by my feeling that getting mad because people like to talk about their exploits is silly. Everybody brags about something, some just like to brag about how humble and perfect they are, some like to brag about how much money they make or how great their job is, or how fast they run the 100 yard dash. Everybody does this, haven’t met somebody that eventually brings what they are proud about themselves into light. If somebody is proud because they read 2000 books, great! How is that less of an accomplishment than having seen every single Sex in the City episode, or having all the Beanie babies ever made, etc.
If my response is harsh or I seem a douchebag, it is because I am one of those people that is proud of the sheer number of books I have read in my lifetime (though I don’t feel superior to those that haven’t read that many, its just MY accomplishment- any reading such into my pride is due to issues you may or may not have with your own ego, not with arrogance on my part). And it is the pit, so my post need not be polite nor does it necessarily need to “contribute” to the thread. Like all the sarcastic replies about winning a prize or a trophy are more of a “contribution.”
Ah yes, the picky eater thread, I remember it well. Eight pager, wasn’t it? Now there was a thread I loved to hate. This isn’t exactly what I was looking for when I asked for examples of wine and food afficianados overtly dissing those that don’t share their passion, but it turns out it is a good example after all,as snobbery played a supporting role there.
Congratulations, Omega Glory! A years supply of Ronzoni for you!
People can be smug snobs about reading.
People can be smug snobs about not reading.
People can be smug snobs about hiking.
People can be smug snobs about wine.
People can be smug snobs about food.
I’m not sure, but there seems to be a pattern…
(bolding mine)
I wholeheartedly disagree. Without the escape offered me by Tolkien, Herbert, King and many others, my life would be substantially less rich and enjoyable. Providing and pursuing escape from everyday life is a very worthwhile pursuit. IMO, it’s the object of most of the arts.
I would really like to know where this idea comes from; it’s been mentioned at least a few times in this thread and the original one whcih inspired the OP. I’ve seen way more people who are more than willing to believe everything they read without a critical thought than the opposite. How many people who’ve read The DaVinci Code accepted it as historical fact, vs. those who went out and did independent research to ferret out the truth for themselves? Or who just accepted it as quasi-historical background for a fictional mystery novel? “Damn few” would be my guess.
Reading in and of itself doesn’t do jack to stimulate thought. People can mindlessly read every bit as much as they can mindlessly watch TV, or mindlessly perform any other task, really. And just reading a book doesn’t mean the reader necessarily gets anything from it.
Besides, 99% of the books out there are crap, just as 99% of everything is crap (and 99% of my statistics are crap, too). Reading crap doesn’t make you more intellectual or enlightened than watching crap on TV, in my opinion.
Hmm, I guess you are right. Do you feel there is a signifigant difference between reading a campy sci-fi novel, watching Friends, or going to an art museam in terms of “worth.”
(I guess while it is worthwhile pursuit, I still opine that it can be quite detrimental, like several posters mentioned above it can keep you from living your own life, and it has in my case as well. Odd that I am actually still proud of my reading accomplishments given that, but I have learned to moderate my reading desires as I get older)
Just out of curiosity, does anyone have a cite that shows reading does more to stimulate the mind that watching a film? The fact that when you read a book and it describes a girl in a yellow hat, your mind imagines a girl in a yellow hat- what exactly is the benefit of this for someone not in third grade? Is there anyone alive who can’t envision a girl with a yellow hat if they read a description of one? Why is this imagination stimulation a good or necessary thing for an able minded adult? Are there studies that show imagination derived from reading prevents dementia or Alzheimer’s?
Sorry, should have added my above post is not meant to knock reading and readers, it is a legitimate question aimed at those who feel reading stimulates the mind in ways nothing else can.
And I, too, wonder like other posters where are these masses of slack-jawed troglodytes whose sole goal in life is to publically embarass everyone who reads for pleasure? The inbred clerk at the local Mini-mart? Probably the same person who would laugh at you for having a full time job or investing in the stock market? Are there any adults with IQ’s over 100 who mock people for reading?
People with lower linguistic skills at higher risk for Alzheimer’s:
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,68409-0.html
My curiousity is overwhelming me…did he actually say “anathema”? :dubious:
I shall speak in defense of those who sit, slack-jawed, and stare at the walls.
You see, I often have a book. But when I don’t, I look like an android whose battery has been borrowed to power a radio. I slump. My eyes glaze.
But I’m not just sitting there. No. I’m doing something much worse. I’m doing something socially unacceptable, something that engenders more sneering, more revulsion, and more figurative rotten vegetable throwing than any reader or non-reader has ever encountered.
I’m writing poetry.
I’m sorry.
Don Pardo, take away her Mentos!
No, no. It’s the Man in the Yellow Hat. If you’d read Curious George you’d know that.
Did you take the licked one or the unlicked one?
I haven’t read in a while, going by my own definition (novels are for reading, everything else is a means to an end). At the moment I spend a lot of time reading messageboards, browsing Wikipedia, and teaching myself about AviSynth filters and how they work. I have got a book on C, but it’s really not the kind of thing you can curl up with.
For literal, simple statements like that, that’s true enough. When the author begins using metaphors and describing things in terms of the reactions they evoke, and using words as artists use brushstrokes, that’s when your mind has to start working.
Mervyn Peake does this well. The part in Titus Groan where Fuschia first enters the attic is as clear in my memory as a favourite scene from a much-watched movie.
What - has no one claimed the <insert name> home version game yet??? It’s mine, mine, all miiiiiinnnnnnnneeee!!
I’m sorry I missed the thread at the beginning. It looks like it has been fun - although I haven’t read all of it.
WOOKINPANUB I am definitely guilty of declaring - pretty regularly - that I prefer to read. My apologies if I have made you feel like I think less of you because you don’t.
I actually don’t think less of people who don’t read. I confess that I did kid one of my close friends as recently as this morning because he told me he was reading his “once a year” book. But he laughed when I told him it was good to keep up the skills, he may need to read sometime in the future - and he new I was joking.
Lordy, I get it, Manda Jo -no need to beat it into me.
I wish that someone somewhere would do CAT or PET scans of people reading and people watching TV-and see the difference. I have no way of knowing, one way or another, but my WAG is that the two stimulate different sections of the brain.
OK-this is what I got out of this thread:
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people can be annoying in their smugness re fill in hobby or interest here.
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most people do not read obsessively and that’s ok
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some truly crappy prizes were given out and I didn’t get even a one.
Off to read, instead…
I’d like to be sauteed and simmered, if you please.