What Does Reading Mean To You

 

What does reading mean to you?

This is an exciting question we come across often. Why do you read books?  - the most common response would be  'To gain knowledge'.

But, is it really just to gain knowledge? 

I mean, there are plenty of mediums available for learners to get an understanding of a context. such as watching animated videos, courses on various platforms, certifications, seminars, webinars, and many more. 

Why do we need to read books if their prime purpose can be met by other mediums in a far superior way?  

Recently, I installed an educational application on my phone. As I was hovering over its various features, my eyes got stuck on a 'Physics for class 9th' tab. Curiously, I entered and selected a video named 'Laws of Motion'. 

It was brilliant!   The explanation, the video demonstration, and the cartoon used were making me stick to watching the complete video. Watching this for 9:45 minutes, one can easily understand the laws of motion. On the contrary, books may take 1-2 hours just to understand the concept. 

So why read books? Why waste time and struggle to comprehend the text when you can get a better understanding via videos?

Here is my philosophy on  'What does reading mean to you?'  

For me, reading is a practice or a discipline for:

• developing patience,

• developing commitment,

• developing willpower, 

• developing imagination,

• time traveling, reading first-hand output from  significant people,

• broadening perspectives to look beyond own version of the truth,

• consuming quality content; today, every user id is an author.

 Books are solving a bigger purpose than just giving you knowledge.

We must understand that:

the brightest minds are documenting their work in the form of journals, research papers, or writing books.  They are not creating videos on xyz platforms and worrying about views and subscriptions. 

However, the irony is - even if we are aware about this fact, we still have the urge to watch rather than read. 

On the other hand, choosing books as a medium for entertainment or gaining knowledge will have an innate advantage which has been described above. These traits will make you a better person.  

I know, it is hard to differentiate today" if videos and books are solving the same purpose of providing knowledge, why go for books?" But it will become more significant when you dive into reading.  It is hilarious when we watch dozens of videos on "Why should we read books" but avoid going through small articles like this.

We can watch a ten minutes animated video on Art of War and can understand its essence. But these ten mins will not uplift us mentally. It will vanish from our minds as we click on the next video.  We don't have to prove to anyone that we know the Art of War book exists in the world. 

The purpose of reading is to absorb the idea by giving it time and commitment. It is difficult to hold attention but it is worth giving efforts.  

And most important, we don't have to read because we want to brag around peers or sound intellectual. Read because we want to have rich and profound experiences.