Does reading books make you smarter?

[giddieon]

You misspelled "misspell."

Man if people are that picky I have no hope on this forum since I can't spell to save my life...

 

[nick_m100]

Huh, I guess I did. Oh well at least I had removed a letter instead of adding. Who really cares I think I was just really bored at that point. I think it might have had something to do with him calling himself a linguist at the time.

 

[bookworm fellow]

I read online forums all the time, but i remember hearing a long time ago reading makes you smarter, just wondering if you guys agree with that, like reading fantasy books and non fiction, books you don't actually learn anything in.

It’s impossible for me to answer this topic’s title question “Does reading makes anyone smarter?” without launching some principle before. Firstly we should ask “what does smartness means” and “what kind of reading does the topic title question refers to”. “fantasy books and non fiction, books you don't actually learn anything in” - or in other words, literature - surely got something to “teach” us. The most known advantage we could get by reading such stuff is the improvement of our text interpreting and writing skills. But I think there is a lot more. In fact, I think good novels could teach us life lessons that we would eventually learn by ourselves by facing difficult life situations some day. I’ll not make a list of them now, but I hope I could give you an idea of what I’m taking about. ( )

Can you define smart? Most of us recognize book smart and people smart and street smart - all different and all desirable in certain circumstances. Reading involves both a process and content. The more you read, the better you get at the process. The content you take in during the process may be good or bad, useful or not.

Good point!!

I don’t have an idea of what the common sense would say smartness means. But as far as I know - and by the way according to a dictionary’s conception – it means the ability to act fast and in the best way possible in unexpected difficult situations. In other words, it’s the skill to make the right choices even without taking too long to decide between the various possible options. That’s what being smart means. And I’d say it’s an inborn personal characteristic. Maybe people got different levels of smartness and that doesn’t means they’re better or worst; or that they’re ineluctably fated to be winners or losers. That would not be true. Different smartness degrees means only people have different personalities and – probably – different professional talents. Fortunately people are different! So, no, I don’t think reading would make someone smarter concerning I can’t figure out any sort of reading that would help someone to develop his/her smartness – or, in other words, to change his/her personality. Of course this is a layman speech, since I’m not a psychology student and I’m aware of any theme related to the mind's states and developing processes.

Differently, I’d say reading could improve the intelligence, what is not the same as smartness. Intelligence is more related to the capacity of learning new things and accumulating knowledge. It’s not inborn or even related to the individual’s personality, and this is why I see no reason to say it could not be improved somehow. So reading could make someone more intelligent – but, again, not smarter – what only means this person can accumulate new knowledge trough the reading.

Obviously the sort of knowledge acquired will be directly related to the sort of reading. Reading academic books will not give me the same knowledge as reading literature just for fun. So now the matter is not about the possibility of becoming more or less intelligent, but a judgement of what kind of knowledge would better or faster make me successful. This is a completely different issue. If asked, the common sense probably would answer reading law doctrines volumes would make me a lot smarter than reading any literature. (I took law material merely as an example. It could be also medicine, mathematics, chemistry or anything your minds remember.) Such tough is probably related to the idea that intelligence may be related to the success degree an individual achieve in his life. If so, yes, the academic material would be the one to improve the intelligence. But if we forget the money-based concepts, I see no reason to say Kelsen’s law books would be better than Balzac’s “The harlot high and low” for improving the intelligence. Those are simply different modalities of knowledge and it's “meanless” (if such word exists ) to say which one is better. Surely I would never abandon the academic material studies once It’s the only way I see to make money and also because I like my area. However, I don’t think someone who dedicates his life to study or even appreciate literature is a better or worst person than others. Such stereotype would be silly. It’s just a life option, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[PipPirrip]

Huh, I guess I did. Oh well at least I had removed a letter instead of adding. Who really cares I think I was just really bored at that point. I think it might have had something to do with him calling himself a linguist at the time.

Well, I care - I thought you were being helpful, turns out you were just being nasty.

 

[nick_m100]

Well it wasn't simply to be nasty. When I get bored I get knitpicky and point out all flaws and it usually ends up being helpful until I say that I was bored then people get pissy about it.

 

[JimMorrison]

Speaking on personal experience only, I've noticed direct correlations in the amount I read and my test taking abilities. As I'm sure you're expecting the more I read the higher my test scores tend to be. This isn't shocking at all, but what is shocking is when I would replace studying at night, with reading a novel that had next to nothing to do with my test the next day, and end up not only feeling confident when taking the test, but confirming that by receiving an A for the test.

That some interesting insight. Being a psych major, can you elaborate as to why that would happen?

This has happened to me once or twice as well. I was so involved with what I was currently reading that I did minimal studying the night before and just continued reading my book. Ended up doing just fine on the exam.

 

[KinkedSlinky]

Every time I read I tend to pick up a word or two that I didn't know before.
My everyday speech has been affected greatly. I tend to make complete sentences(I hope people understand what I mean by this), use less slang, and throw out a couple of "big" words now and then.

 

[-Carlos-]

Every time I read I tend to pick up a word or two that I didn't know before.
My everyday speech has been affected greatly. I tend to make complete sentences(I hope people understand what I mean by this), use less slang, and throw out a couple of "big" words now and then.

I got ya. You do gain a useful list of words when reading. Thus you can express yourself with more precision. That's a good thing.

 

[PsychZero]

That some interesting insight. Being a psych major, can you elaborate as to why that would happen?

This has happened to me once or twice as well. I was so involved with what I was currently reading that I did minimal studying the night before and just continued reading my book. Ended up doing just fine on the exam.

To be honest, I haven't looked too much into, aside from occasional thought. Also, I haven't found much directly relating to it in psychology courses per se, but I was browsing a few books the other day, and I believe an author named Steven Pinker may be able to give you a few ideas as to why this happens.

My own personal thoughts are that keeping your brain active rather than inactive have direct effect on how easily you can retrieve information later on. For instance, if I spent the prior night reading and next day my brain will be primed to retrieve information later on. So, let's say that I remember hearing something about Aspergers Syndrome earlier in class, well if I spent the night reading then I'll be able to retrieve the information readily, rather than having to really pump myself for it.

Like I said, it's just a stretch, but perhaps one day I'll be able to do some of my own research on the subject.

 

[Ronny]

Man if people are that picky I have no hope on this forum since I can't spell to save my life...

Don't worry I think only a few are that picky and the rest of us are human and make mistakes too

I think reading can help expand your vocabulary, I often look up words when I'm reading and learn new ones. Also if I come across something in a fiction book that interest me, I may do some research into it and learn something new from history, about a place or person.

 

[chuephödli]

I believe an author named Steven Pinker may be able to give you a few ideas.

Now that you mentioned him: reading Steven Pinker's books has definitely made me smarter. Whatever smart means.

Actually, I don't really think there is that much point in debating what smart means - we all sort of know, don't we? When somebody tells me "wow, this girl is really smart!", I never really wonder what they mean: I tend to agree (or not), but I don't usually feel compelled to ask what they mean.

That we cannot really seem to agree on a definition, that is an entirely different problem. But then, can you define "being in love"?

 

[bookworm fellow]

[...]can you define "being in love"?

Oh, anyone can define it and all the definitions would be right, as in the other hand they will be differ from each other, since as far as I've observed in life people seem to love for different reasons: some love because the guy/girl is rich; others because they are pretty; others because of both; others because they are kind; others because they are supposed to love that exact person; and so on.

LoL Anyway, I got your point and I agree with you. It would be kind of bizarre if we all wondered what "smartness" means in each context.

 

[BeerWench13]

I have found that reading not only improves my vocabulary, but also improves my diction. However, this can be a drawback when you're in a conversation with a person and use a word like "hyperbole" and they give you that deer-in-headlights look that clearly shows that you've spoken above their comprehension.

As someone else stated, I have found that even fictional books will spark my interest in a certain topic or historical incident which will prompt me to do more research on the matter. Recently a few fictional works have gotten me interested in quantum physics as well as the American Civil War.

 

[chuephödli]

Recently a few fictional works have gotten me interested in quantum physics as well as the American Civil War.

Concerning Quantum Physics, may I suggest David Deutsch's The Fabric of Reality? Nobody understands Quantum Physics of course (was it Nils Bohr who said that if you think you understand it, that is definite proof that you don't?), but this was the first time I got an inkling of what it could actually mean.

Not that the book could possibly be right. But it is a very worthy attempt. And I can guarantee that this book will make you smarter.

 

[Sybarite]

I have found that reading not only improves my vocabulary, but also improves my diction. However, this can be a drawback when you're in a conversation with a person and use a word like "hyperbole" and they give you that deer-in-headlights look that clearly shows that you've spoken above their comprehension...

~~LOL~~

I've had that experience too – in my local boozer, one of the regulars decided, after some polysyllabic contribution to a conversation that I'd made, to announce that I was the pub's answer to Stephen Fry.

It's one of the more complimentary things someone's said about me.

 

[BeerWench13]

Thanks for the suggestion, chuephödli. I'll add it to my TBP list. I will say that I only have an inkling of an idea about quantum physics, but I am doing my best to learn what I can on the subject. It is certainly mind-boggling.

 

[dominicgaj]

As an author, reading other books certainly helps one become a better writer, I can say that much at least.