So you wanna be smart? Read! Read!! Read!!!
Alot of persons don't read. The truth is that when you don't read, it shows in your thoughts, words, actions, investments, successes and infact your entire life is the sum-total of what you have read.
The worst plague is a society that punishes readers and rewards average free-lancers. They call them different kinds of names including nerds, bookworms, geeks, etcz just to make them appear uncool. I choose to rather call them the infovore. We all have seen how smart readers (even without formal education) have changed the world. Case in point: BILL GATES.
In this modern internet age, it has become very easy to generate and share information. Yet, many would rather loiter around on social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter instead of getting this information. Many times I get asked questions about things that are hidden in plane sight. You know why? People don't read.
This reduction in the reading culture may be partly due to the presence of new media like social media, video sharing sites like Youtube, Netflix and other alternatives to the hard-and-fast traditional approaches. However, nobody is to blame, its already well-established that the attention span of our modern youth is dropping rapidly.
Scientists have proven times without number that there's an above average positive correlation between reading and intellingence. The relationship between reading and academic achievements, success and excellence are well-known phenomena.
Let's explore these with some more details;
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE IMPORTANCE OF READING?
According to a paper published by Anne Cunningham of the University of California in Berkeley, reading is by far the best way to train your mind. More than conversation and even being read to.
- Active reading increases your language vocabulary.
- When you read more you learn new words which you can apply while writing or speaking. It therefore means that a reader is generally a better writer than a non-reader.
- Reading broadens your view of the world thus making it less likely that you will fall for fallacies.
- Reading helps preserve memory and reasoning into old age. Many young people act demented these day. You know why? Simple, they never read. Many have turned to couch potatoes watching
- You can learn valuable lessons from novels, books, magazines, newspapers, journals, blogs. The thing is you never know when or where your knowledge may apply tomorrow. You could pick up a million-dollar idea from a simple blog post or even apply a life-saving technique learned from a book you read years ago.
Fluid intelligence is that ability to solve problems, understand things and detect meaningful patterns. Of course, you can read little or nothing at all and still be brilliant at reading between the lines of a conversation. But in today's world, fluid intelligence and reading generally go hand in hand. In fact, the increased emphasis on critical reading and writing skills in schools may partly explain why students perform, on average, about 20 points higher on IQ tests than in the early 20th century. The so-called Flynn effect is named after James Flynn, a New Zealand professor who has devoted much of his career to studying the worldwide phenomena of increasing IQ scores."
THEGUARDIANBOOKS
Here on Steemit I see alot of people who find it difficult to read. They just skip reading posts and comment "nice post" on it. This is appalling. There is so much knowledge to be gained from reading posts here on steemit. Crypto-knowledge, Investment & Business knowhow, Thoughtful posts, Life lessons, and infact general knowledges of all kinds. Skimming and skipping posts is depriving yourself of the valuable content here on Steemit.
So I still leave you with the same statement I opened with;
You wanna be smart? Read! Read!! Read some more!!!
Thanks for reading. Cheers!
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Excellent points about the merits of reading. Especially thought provoking was the quote on fluid intelligence. it's so true that we are entering an information economy. Those who can interpret and manipulate information will therefore be wealthy like no other time in history.
Not reading on Steemit is like sitting on a time bomb. Before this platform one spent his time perusing through essay-like Facebook posts, Twitter feeds and online editions of Vanguardngr, New York Times and the BBC
Since joining Steemit, visiting such platforms has become more or less a burden. Hence if you come here, you have no choice but to read else you are neither here nor there, an action that will mercilessly derail your mental development.
wow, this is amazing sir, reading remains the most advance way of learning, although many learn through different medium just as you have mentioned in your article, but they are still incompare to reading.
reading is learning and the day you stop reading, you stop learning too, so read always if you want to remain relevant in your respective field or profession.
thanks for sharing boss
am @mike4christ
by reading we know the world
Really a good sight u made out there. Reading all time shows that you are update at any time .
For a non English speaking person like me, I gained new word today- infovore. Thanks!
Reading is learning!! Am glad you shared this
Hmm.. I won't just say "nice post" to this one (although i think it is lol). I appreciate the positive encouragement to stop and read/gain/absorb from written information. Unfortunately, i'm finding that not enough people are providing words to go with their blogs - they take a picture but don't write about where it was taken or why etc. I do like what you wrote and intend to apply it. Thank you 😁...
Another great post! I completely agree with everything here. To this day, my grandfather, who had a grade 3 education, was the smartest man I've ever met. I don't think there was ever a question he didn't know the answer to and he even helped me with my math homework as a kid. He was pretty sly though, and I do remember him helping me think my way to my own answers too though. He basically had no education, but he read. CONSTANTLY. If it was a book and it had words, he would read it.
I have a hard time reading anything at length on the monitor, mainly because I still prefer to feel a book in my hands, but I've been telling myself I need to start reading again (part of the reason I'm here). Texting and social media have made me lazy. I remember a time where I had to have correct spelling and grammar and now, I barely care. I can actually feel my IQ dropping.
Another benefit to reading (at least for me) is it's a nice escape from everything. I love it when the power goes out and I'm forced to read a book because I come back feeling refreshed and recharged
Humm, thanks dad.
I would surely change my reading habit. I read less these days.
Thanks for your educative post always.
Love this post Baba, hope to get more of this from you. My regards!
Wow.. it so interesting to know that reading helps in preserving ones memory and reasoning for the transition into old age... great research @nairadaddy Thumbs up!
The day a man stops reading he starts dying . Like the writer clearly highlight reading makes us smart. Smart people read while dumb people wont because reading doesn't make any meaning to them and that is reason they are were they are. Read and live or neglect reading and die
Very nice posts, I’m gonna improve my reading
You are so right on target. The attention span of people these days is horrible. They look at the headlines and move on. One other compelling thing about reading, it expands your imagination. When reading a good book, you can be taken to worlds and places you have never imagined.
I also would like to thank you for the statement on people who just comment. I am new to Steemit, but I feel that if you are going to comment, you should always take the time to read the articles that people have put so much work into. That is what this community is all about. Yes, you might make a quick buck, but it does not bring value to the community.
Thanks for the post.