Reading outside our comfort zone

[tallwhitegirl]

I receive a monthly newsletter from George Wythe College. This month's feature article posed an interesting question that I believe would make for stimulating conversation. Oliver DeMille asks:
So why do we sometimes want to only read things we already agree with? At one level,it's just more comfortable. But at another level,education is about pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zones — especially in our thinking."

I just read a post from A Child Reader versus A Reading Child that spoke of reading banned books. I think that sometimes we do need to read books that make us feel uncomfortable and some individuals may feel need to be banned because in the reading of them we are better able to ascertain for ourselves what is right. Sometimes we read books that are "broken" and they take us outside of our comfort zone, but we can glean from these books a stronger sense of truth and perhaps even a stronger sense of what is important to us as individuals.

 

[direstraits]

What you said about reading banned books is exactly why I landed myself a copy of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. I'm always curious why a certain piece of work or opinion should be banned, and I'm itching to find out what it is about the book that makes a person, no, a nation, no, a community so uncomfortable.

ds

 

[StillILearn]

I receive a monthly newsletter from George Wythe College. This month's feature article posed an interesting question that I believe would make for stimulating conversation. Oliver DeMille asks:
So why do we sometimes want to only read things we already agree with? At one level,it's just more comfortable. But at another level,education is about pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zones — especially in our thinking."

I just read a post from A Child Reader versus A Reading Child that spoke of reading banned books. I think that sometimes we do need to read books that make us feel uncomfortable and some individuals may feel need to be banned because in the reading of them we are better able to ascertain for ourselves what is right. Sometimes we read books that are "broken" and they take us outside of our comfort zone, but we can glean from these books a stronger sense of truth and perhaps even a stronger sense of what is important to us as individuals.

Good thread, tallwhitegirl. I would imagine that if a book causes us to think thoughts that may have remain unthunken, then it has accomplished at least half its purpose.

 

[StillILearn]

What you said about reading banned books is exactly why I landed myself a copy of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. I'm always curious why a certain piece of work or opinion should be banned, and I'm itching to find out what it is about the book that makes a person, no, a nation, no, a community so uncomfortable.

ds

Excellent point, ds. I think I'll make a point of reading it too.

I like your new outfit.

 

[direstraits]

I like your new outfit.

The white stuff on the face was apparently toxic, and was actually banned from use. Dunno what it's called though.

I also thought of something else... I think everyone at one point or another will get, well, pretty much fed up reading the same kind of stuff all the time. Hmm... I'm not speaking for everybody, but I'll certainly get sick if I just read fantasy all the time. Currently politics interests me, and it is so far away from my previous comfort reads, plus it's so fascinating.

Nobody's gonna get me to read westerns, though.

ds

 

[StillILearn]

The white stuff on the face was apparently toxic, and was actually banned from use. Dunno what it's called though.

Oh, is that a Kubuki outift?

Nobody's gonna get me to read westerns, though.

Larry McMurtry got me to read them.

ds

Having inadvertently posted inside your quote, I need to write ten more characters in order to get published here on TBF.

 

[Fantasy Moon]

Reading different books is always a good thing. I am amused when I read the posts of members at another forum who read nothing except a certain genre, i.e. fantasy. I just feel sorry for them that they miss out on so much. As much as I like certain fantasy books, like Ms. Marillier's Sevenwaters trilogy, I would go ballistic if that was the only thing that I confined myself to.

 

[SFG75]

I try to read material that I disagree with. That means having one webpage of the Washington Post, while another features the Washington Times. I have a lot of books by conservatives, most notably, Thomas Sowell. I won't buy certain books buy certain people that I disagree with as their gripes are already known, and more often than not, more predictable than works by people that I do agree with. In terms of comfort zone, I like to venture out liberally and try new things. I've discovered a new genre of books, not to mention having finally read Nabokov's Lolita. For me, that was going "out there."

 

[henrietta]

Oliver DeMille asks:
So why do we sometimes want to only read things we already agree with? At one level,it's just more comfortable. But at another level,education is about pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zones — especially in our thinking."

At the moment, I can't even read stuff I agree with, politically speaking. I overdosed on politics after 9/11 and the past prez election. I'm just tapped out.

 

[cajunmama]

At the moment, I can't even read stuff I agree with, politically speaking. I overdosed on politics after 9/11 and the past prez election. I'm just tapped out.

Reading different books is always a good thing. I am amused when I read the posts of members at another forum who read nothing except a certain genre, i.e. fantasy. I just feel sorry for them that they miss out on so much. As much as I like certain fantasy books, like Ms. Marillier's Sevenwaters trilogy, I would go ballistic if that was the only thing that I confined myself to.

There is so much out there, why confine yourself to one little sliver? It is just so...narrowminded. Since joining this forum, I have read so much I had never even considered before, and I think I am a better person because of it. I do the same thing when I make quilts. I am always trying out more complex or challenging patterns because I want to grow as a quilter, not make the same old thing over and over again. I certainly do not want to read the same thing over and over again.

 

[direstraits]

Oh, is that a Kubuki outift?

Well, it's a geisha getup - the kimono and makeup. Bananas don't look nice in kimonos, I tell you.

Larry McMurtry got me to read them.

I got his book recently in a buy 3 for 10 bucks deal. It's not Lonesome Dove, unfortunately, so I'm not sure I'm actually going to read it.

I'm with cajunmama - this place has changed my reading habits. And now, I'm proud to say I make less spelling mistakes. Oh, and now I picked up an interest in politics. Damn.

ds

 

[cajunmama]

Well, it's a geisha getup - the kimono and makeup. Bananas don't look nice in kimonos, I tell you.
ds

*slaps forehead*
I thought it was a Michael Jackson costume!

 

[direstraits]

WhaddidItellya??? An honest to goodness banana dresses up in a respected and highly cultured national attire, and he get taken for a children-book writing, has been popstar with half a nose!

Zhang Ziyi will be calling you shortly, cajunmama!

Maybe I should just stick to being yellow.

ds

 

[StillILearn]

Well, it's a geisha getup - the kimono and makeup. Bananas don't look nice in kimonos, I tell you.


I got his book recently in a buy 3 for 10 bucks deal. It's not Lonesome Dove, unfortunately, so I'm not sure I'm actually going to read it.

I'm with cajunmama - this place has changed my reading habits. And now, I'm proud to say I make less spelling mistakes. Oh, and now I picked up an interest in politics. Damn.

ds

Open up the McMurtry anywhere and see how you like his writing. His characters are delightful.

Tell me you never heard about any politics here!

And you look good in anything you wear.

 

[direstraits]

There's a huge resource on politics here, and I treasure my 2 gurus, both either taught me or recommended stuff to me - Peder and Clara. I just wish they are around more.

ds

 

[StillILearn]

DS = Maybe I should just stick to being yellow.

(So mellow, he's so yellow)

Electrical banana
Is gonna be a sudden craze
Electrical banana
Is bound to be the very next phase


(Quite rightly)
They call me mellow yellow
(Quite rightly)
They call me mellow yellow

 

[direstraits]

Singing?? Wow - you have been using that nano, haven't you, cool g'ma?



Normally I'd use this line to get back on topic, but we're so off topic I don't know what to say!

ds

 

[StillILearn]

Singing?? Wow - you have been using that nano, haven't you, cool g'ma?



Normally I'd use this line to get back on topic, but we're so off topic I don't know what to say!

ds

Topic? Which topic?

Nano Granny strikes again