Why We Should Start Reading Books Again Before It’s Too Late
By: Sarah Hirji, IST, Tanzania
Be honest…when was the last time you finished a book? Last week or last year. When was the last time you saw someone reading a book? Now, think five or ten years back, you were probably in primary school. Your answer to these questions today is most certainly different from what it would have been then. So…what happened? Why did we stop reading books all of a sudden? And why is this incredibly dangerous to the human race?
We haven’t stopped reading altogether, however: we read text messages, social media comments, and emails every single day. But reading books is different. All books: nonfiction, fiction, poetry compilations, memoirs, biographies, etc., demand something different. These books may exist around us, we may have bookshelves upon bookshelves at home, stacked with books we bought but we never read. But that’s the issue: reading books shapes the human mind, and we just don’t do it anymore.
A book-reader separates themselves from someone who isn’t; they have unlocked a separate level of the human mind and have built skills that could be applied to every aspect of life. Reading books builds our consciousness of space and time, awareness of the world around us, and empathy. It sharpens our critical thinking skills, patience, and attention span; the benefits are endless, but why do we neglect it so much?
The shift occurred, and you’ve probably heard this countless times before, when social media was introduced. Instead of slowly reading blank ink on white pages, you have colorful and quick content that enforces constant stimulation and instant gratification, something that you do not get with reading a book. It’s not like social media and phones are inherently bad; sometimes we do need a break from life, and we feel like we need to catch up with the world, but it comes at a cost. We are constantly consuming information, words verbally and written on our screens, but we are reducing our understanding and forgetting them more than ever. But why is this so damaging to the human race? When we read, we reflect. We reflect on the use of words, the intersection of characters (especially in fiction), and how words are interwoven in a way that requires us to think deeply.
When we think deeply, we question deeply. When we use our critical thinking to evaluate a text, we can employ the same critical thinking to evaluate dominant narratives and mainstream media. We learn to question authority, social constructs, and institutions. Without strong critical thinking abilities, we are more inclined to be victims of mass marketing schemes, propaganda, and misinformation.
If we lose this, we are more prone to becoming pawns in a chess game.
So, how do we start reading again? It is important to read both fiction and nonfiction books; each uniquely shapes our critical thinking skills. However, if you feel more accustomed to reading one more than another, start with what you are comfortable with. It could even be a re-read; as long as it is a book that you are confident would bring you back into reading. You may claim, “I don’t have time to read!” However, if you swap out your screen time for reading a book, you will have enough time to read. Well, that’s easier said than done.
Start embarrassingly small: even if you read just 10 minutes a day of a book you read 3 years ago, you are still reading! The embarrassingly small action every day will develop into a habit, which is something you could expand into a hobby. You can still be a book-reader in this day and age; you can still resist authorities trying to market and influence your mind. All you have to do is pick up a book and delve into the wonderful world of reading.
Because maybe the real risk isn't that we merely stop reading books. It’s the thinking that books once made possible.
