How does one make reading books increase your intellect rather than letting the activity just be another form of escapism?
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How does one make reading books increase your intellect rather than letting the activity just be another form of escapism?
Reading actually makes you dumber.
this, my IQ as tested on various online sites increased markedly by 30 points over the period of three weeks when I dropped reading and started watching netflix dramas that circled around the themes of abortion, suicide, drugs, interracial sex, diverse sexual identities, diversity, prostitution and promiscuity instead
So this is why israelites are so smart...
precisely, exactly, and rotundly
Why read books when you can clean your room and wash your dick.
Why not do all three?
you can't. people here will cope hard and pretend there's more to this stuff than there really is but everything is escapism to an extent, some things are just better at hiding it will modern media today is very blatant.
reading is not for everyone despite what your elementary school teachers told you
Well, given the photo and the moronic wording, I may assume you're talking about becoming an "intelligent" person, like Juden Peterstein. Well, you don't read to become someone this intelligent, you are just being a drug addict with conservative political views, which you can learn from his videos.
Proof that reading books has no association with intelligence
Reading technically dense material is a good choice, also works with unusual vocabulary.
You can't use reading to escape if you use it to contend with your problems directly.
Language and one's understanding of it (and many other topics touched in detail through writing, even fiction) are directly interlinked with not only your ability to express ideas, but also internally process and untangle them. Abstract thought is schizophrenic and nebulous. Word gives it shape and form, and the more you do this the smarter you legitimately grow.
Of course it's still escapism. But considering unlike other forms of entertainment reading actually demands attention and in return gives knowledge to be used in your own immediate life, it's far from being harmful.
My schizophrenia makes me hear words
Develops and expands your imaginative faculty. Imagination is needed to model future contigents, which are not given in perception, the better your imagination the better you are able to conceive of the future you want and the means to achieve it, the pitfalls you'll encounter, etc.
Northrop Fyre goes through this in The Eeucated Imagination, book lecture series you can either read or listen to here:
Reading alone won't do it: you need to apply it because that's when it translates 'information' into 'practical skills'. Find a skill you lack, and read an instructional book on it, then apply it.
Now it's not another form of escapism but it's self-improvement. If you've never done carpentry and coding, learn both together, can you find analogies between them - especially how to plan ahead and make shapes and functions fit together? Now you're becoming more intelligent.
I'm a brainlet but I like reading. It doesn't make me smart, but it's entertaining and allows me to understand some new topics.
That's what the OP is trying to avoid
It can't be avoided. Brainlets are brainlets forever.
Turn your escapism into virtue. Transmutation is all there is.
You can't increase your IQ by reading but you can definitely gain a deeper understanding of anything you want to learn about. The closest thing to a practical use for this would be doing your own writing, which could be in any form.
What's necessary is that you do things like reflecting, taking notes, etc. in order to process the information and impressions that you receive in the course of your reading. This is where the actual magic happens, the conversion of raw information into an expansion of your mental model of the world.
None of this means you have to force yourself to read certain things, although you should be open to everything because you don't really know what something is like, or how difficult it will be for you, until you try it. But if you have it in you to be a seeker of knowledge on any level, you will be intrinsically motivated and you won't have to worry about choosing the wrong directions, your instincts will guide you. If that's not who you are, that's perfectly fine, trying to be something you're not can only lead to misery. You just have to try things and discover the path that awaits you, and be open to accepting all of it. Also definitely don't listen to people who are aggressive online, don't put any weight on their evaluations, they are probably young and are by definition unhappy and unable to give any real insight on anything. Not saying that's what this thread is like really but it happens a lot and you seem like someone who might be vulnerable to being influenced by it.
I'm not OP but I like your post. It's sincere and the part were you mention "reflecting, taking notes, in order to process the information and impressions that you receive in the course of your reading.." spoke to my own experience of looking at things in a more useful way when I started doing this. I also like that you identified, very plausibly, that online aggression likely comes from a younger, frustrated population with something to prove.
I am curious how you do it. Do you keep a journal? Do you make notes for everything you do? Every book you read? What's your process like? Also, what have you been reading recently?
To be honest I don’t actually take notes because I have autistic notions and neuroses about these things but I recommend it because I know it would help my understanding a lot if I convinced myself to do it. I don’t have any interest in directly recording stuff about my life, if I wanted to put any of that on paper I’d rather try to do it in the form of fiction, but I’m sure journaling is not a bad idea for trying to understand oneself better.
I don’t think note-taking should be restricted to a particular type of book, it just has to do with what you find interesting. If something interests you then it’s natural to want to engage with it further either mentally or in writing, I’m not suggesting that anyone make it into a homework task, simply that it’s something to try, and if it is useful and enjoyable for you then you’ll naturally refine it from there. My emphasis on this stems from my own bad habit of trying to read too much too quickly due to my constant awareness of how many things there are out there that I want to read, and how little of that material I’ve been able to experience yet; but giving myself some space to breathe, rather than trying to cram as much information as possible, is the only way I can get any actual value out of it. My actual process just consists of taking various periods of time to stop doing anything and just reflect on what I’ve been reading, either just then or earlier in the day or whenever, and trying to make connections within a given work, between given works, between the work(s) and history, my personal experience, etc., any direction that seems interesting or fruitful, and just thinking back on moments, lines, passages, or narrative arcs of particular beauty is always a joy in itself. Again, if you are not at all compelled to do any of this, don’t force it, that’s a losing battle. It’s just about reminding yourself that this is something that you can try periodically and potentially get some edification/pleasure out of it.
The thing about aggression is only worth saying here because the OP made me think he was a bit impressionable and although maybe everyone is able to recognize that stuff for what it is, there was a time when I certainly didn’t and it I got essentially indirectly bullied into believing various things that caused me to have a somewhat misguided approach to reading.
Currently in the middle of reading several epic poems (primarily the Aeneid, Paradise Lost, and Song of Roland) along with poems by Rene Char, and Petersburg by Andrey Bely.
>I don’t think note-taking should be restricted to a particular type of book, it just has to do with what you find interesting.
I agree. It's not something that can be forced but can be quite rewarding nonetheless.
>My emphasis on this stems from my own bad habit of trying to read too much too quickly due to my constant awareness of how many things there are out there that I want to read, and how little of that material I’ve been able to experience yet; but giving myself some space to breathe, rather than trying to cram as much information as possible, is the only way I can get any actual value out of it.
I struggle with this quite a lot. Through experience, I now KNOW that reading lesser but more deliberately and thoughtfully, with appropriate time for ideas to gestate is a more fruitful way of engaging with literature. But the anxiety of wanting to grok the fullness of the people/authors/cultural-ideas that remain yet unexplored gets to me - a fear of missing out, not knowing a reference to its fullest depth, bothers me. My solution to this is that I've become extremely picky about what I read and why I read it. If it has direct relevance and contributes to the larger purposes of my life then that literature is granted admission. If not, then I simply do not have time to read everything that exists - as much as I really WANT to.
Yeah that's a very good attitude to have, mine is similar for slightly different reasons. The most helpful thing for me to remember is that there's no end of the rainbow with a pot of gold, just the infinite horizon in every direction of existing knowledge, possible knowledge, knowledge that will become possible in the future, etc., and to immerse oneself in the exploration of that space is the greatest pleasure available to us, regardless of where it leads to.
>escapism = bad
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By reading non fiction mostly, and some culture-shaping classics, instead of mainstream pop fiction which aims at escapism.
By highlighting key points and taking notes on the margins, judging every new piece of information. You should be able to summarize the main points of every book you read, use your notes to easily retrieve info in the future, and form a personal opinion on the book's relevance for the topic discussed and for your own position in the world.
By comparing and integrating the opinions you have on all books you read in order to shape your worldview. To the point that if you engage in a debate or conversation about a topic, you can first explain your personal opinion, then properly quote the authors or studies which inspired your conclusions, then your own thought process to reach said opinion.
Reading will not necessarily make you "more intelligent" but it can shape your intellect if you do it properly. So you put your intelligence to actual use.
Pic related is just a meme. Non-fiction has its uses, but the joke still has a point.
Based non-fiction Chad
You need fiction to understand human nature and the subconscious. So many times I discuss nonfiction with readers here and they don't understand what they've read, they're only capable of surface level thought and are frightened to stray beyond the authority of who they read.
Reading and writing must go hand in hand. If you only consume information, you're doing nothing to sharpen your intellect. You have to produce at least as much as you consume. Reading increases your knowledge of the world, but that knowledge is useless if you don't use it to formulate your own ideas. It's like being a musician who only listens to music without producing his own.
>Peterson thumbnail
Where the FRICK is lmao-anon?
Maybe you need the right kind of brain for it. When I read I think and speak better. I don't have to do anything except read.
Read high quality books (ie literature, not genre shit). Write a review afterwards, to capture your thoughts on the book and what it meant to you. Read with purpose and fiction, not just when you're waiting for the bus or about to fall asleep