My Mum was a teacher and gave me this gift from very early on in life. These studies you mentioned are absolutely fascinating, especially the Harry Potter and heart rate /meditation ones.
The first time I dabbled in reading for fun, I went straight for non-fiction and picked up "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens." It was a great book and all, but after a while, reading non-fiction kinda started to feel like a drag. That all changed when I discovered my first horror fiction book, "Hidden Pictures" by Jason Rekulak. Let me tell you, I was hooked. Mixing it up between fiction and non-fiction books is the way to go. You get the best of both worlds - you can learn useful stuff from non-fiction books and still have a good time with fiction. Unlike movies, watching screens for too long can have some negative effects on your brain. So, it's good to have a balanced diet of books and movies. In conclusion, don't limit yourself to one genre - branch out and try different types of books. Trust me, your brain will thank you.
Usually I am all for these A vs B type questions. For example, "what would win in a fight, a grizzly bear or a tiger?" is an extremely valid and relevant question that should be examined critically. However, "nonfiction vs fiction" is not. I am sorry to give the extremely boring answer of both are excellent, but it's true. As you laid out fiction is excellent for vocabulary and building empathy. Historical fiction is especially great since you can follow characters and their story thereby improving your empathy and understanding of the "human condition" (whatever the hell that is) while learning about real historical events. I'm thinking books like "Kite Runner" and "Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet." But at the same time nonfiction is indispensable. You won't get as much detailed information about world history, politics, and current issues from reading novels as much as nonfiction. And when I say "nonfiction" I don't mean mother^&$ing self-help books. My god man that isn't even real nonfiction since most of what those hacks write aren't even facts. Nonfiction improves your understanding of the world and improves general knowledge. Furthermore, nonfiction tends to be more dense, and presents logical arguments. Paying attention long enough and analyzing hard enough to follow said arguments builds focus and critical thinking. And while fiction might expose you to all sorts of esoteric and archaic words since fictional texts employ more diverse settings across space and time, nonfiction texts will put you face to face with more "academic" words one must know to understand newspapers, scientific journal articles, and legal texts. Finally, a lot of the big "$100" words you find in nonfiction texts are required learning for the GRE and GMAT.
Very well said the farthest I will ever go with self help is books on stoicism, other then that science books , evolution, ecology, astronomy are all great reads! The rest is my epic Harry Potter fantasies and lord of the rings 1984’s . Read everything just know where to weed out the garbage.
Heya! I definitely agree with all of the above...obviously the title/thumbnail is a bit "click-baity" but if you see the types of books I review (or even listen well to this video) I think you'll see that I'm a fan of both fiction and nonfiction. I thought I might make the alternative to this video at some point (why you should read more nonfiction)....I just haven't gotten to it yet Thanks for the comments/conversation.
I primarily read non fiction I love truth what can I say. Given my life history and experiences I really needed help with trauma and healing. So I was seeking help from books not reading for pleasure. I figured im so busy that I have a hard time finding time to read in general running my own business ect so reading fiction just seems like not the best use of my time. Especially when your in survival. However I recently went to a personal development seminar a few years ago and for homework we were told to mix things up and create new Nero pathways by reading a book that we are not used too. SO i was challenged to read fiction so i end up reading memoirs. I will try on reading fiction for the sake of creating new Nero pathways! I think the challenge with people in general is to just get them to start reading period. I think reading is a lost art in todays time. Thanks for the insight
I read mostly non-fiction, because I'm very picky about fictional stories. If there is a character or even I sentence I don't like, I want to completely stop reading the book. I I might do this because I read slowly and don't want to be stuck with a book for possibly months. But sometimes I stick with the book and it turns out way better than I expected.
I totally understand non fiction is great for retaining and learning new information, that being said if your fiction book is not a lord of the rings , Harry Potter , 1984 level of world building it’s hard to be pulled in .
i almost never read fiction book before idk why it’s so hard to remember characters name, imagining a scene. Everything felt so bland. I’ll try picking it up again tonight.
You dont need to try to image the scene, it comes naturally if you read slow. Speed reading is for non fiction, today everyone is talking about speed reading but you must read slow for fiction
