Why Reading is Important

It seems that people are reading less because it takes a lot of time. But time taken out to read is always well spent because reading introduces you to new words. Most of the time there is no need to break out a dictionary or thesaurus. If you read enough and understand the context of the word, then you educate yourself as to what the word means. Many people think that it is a challenge to pick up a book and read. But why are people in America reading less?

With the digital age that we live in now, with radios, Wi-Fi, computers, the Internet, MP3 players, television, and cell phones, it is easy to get distracted. Everyone wants instant entertainment that saturates the ears and eyes. When you read a novel, it takes a little time to get the imagination going to get absorbed into a book. No one has the patience nowadays to actually sit down and read a book. It takes a lot of time to read a book. If it is four hundred pages long and you read an hour of it a day, it will take about five days to get through the whole book. The way that people have their daily schedules now, work and eating are top priorities. For entertainment, most people will watch a movie or go to a friends house. Reading is the last thing on most people minds. There is always a stereotype associated with reading a book. Youngsters view it as uncool or nerdy.

Reading is vital to learning because you understand the world around you much better. The more informed you are, the better life decisions you will be able to make in life. This makes your whole life a little better. If your vocabulary is expanded, you will be able to be more articulate and express yourself better. This will come in handy when you get into trouble, have debates, explaining a situation, or when you want to get your point across in an argument. Many discussions have been lost due to the fact that you know what you want to say, but don't know the right words to use. A simple vocabulary will limit you on what topics you can talk about. Imagine going to a party and meeting all these famous people. Would you be able to talk with them if you were not familiar with what words they use?

Books help you to think and gets the brain active. A lot of people work-out on their bodies, eat healthy, and get plenty of rest. They think their body is taken care of as a whole. Far from it. The brain runs everything in your body, so it is vital to read a novel. It fuels the imagination. When you have an active imagination, you are more likely to become more creative in everything you do. When you read, brain cells become more active, and this helps you to process information faster.

I remember when I was in high school (ten years ago), some students were selected to read paragraphs from books in class. Most of the students sounded like they never read anything for years. One student had trouble with the word 'connection'. I think that there is a serious problem if you can't pronounce the word 'connection' correctly. Some people are embarrassed to read or some just outright refuse to read a book at all.

I know what you might be thinking, what about all the best sellers lists? The people that read books on the best sellers lists are mainly hardcore novel fans, authors, editors, and older people. These are the ones that have plenty of time to read, and have been for a long time.