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Why Should I Care About Reading? 694 Views
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Description:
Reading gives you knowledge. Knowledge makes you smart. Being smart is sexy. Need we say more?
Transcript
- 00:05
Why Should I Care About Reading? a la Shmoop There are tons of things you can do with your
- 00:10
free time. Play sports. Check out Facebook. Go shopping. Practice juggling chainsaws while
- 00:14
riding a unicycle.
- 00:16
Or, if you need something relaxing or mentally stimulating, you can read.
- 00:21
Why should you care about reading? The first answer is the most obvious: books
Full Transcript
- 00:28
are full of information.
- 00:29
Sure, juggling chainsaws improves your reflexes… and tests the quality of your health insurance…
- 00:34
but reading improves your mind. In case you haven’t noticed, we live in
- 00:38
the Information Age. It’s no longer Bronze or Iron that is the most valuable… it’s
- 00:44
information.
- 00:44
Knowledge isn’t just power. It’s practically currency.
- 00:47
Reading can help you get better grades. Improve your memory. And expand your vocabulary exponentially.
- 00:52
If you don’t know what exponentially means, well, you should be reading more.
- 00:56
Plus, books have stood the test of time for being a reliable source of information.
- 01:00
Unless you’re that guy Oprah yelled at for lying in his memoir.
- 01:03
Sure, Wikipedia is mostly accurate, but you never know who could have changed the information
- 01:08
right before you log on.
- 01:09
If someone changes something in a book, you’ll know it.
- 01:14
While reading seems like a solitary activity, it’s actually a great way to meet new people.
- 01:18
We don’t think we’ll ever see crowds lining up around the block like they did for Harry
- 01:21
Potter, but books can be social events, with author talks and book signings.
- 01:26
You can even find book buddies without leaving the house.
- 01:28
Once you’re done posting pug photos on Tumblr, you can head over to communities like Goodreads,
- 01:33
which have over twenty million members. Plus, you’ll know the plot of every other
- 01:36
movie and cable TV show before they hit the air. Almost every hit program these days is
- 01:41
based on a book.
- 01:43
We imagine HBO executives spend a lot of their time at the bookstore.
- 01:47
Whatever you decide to read, you can do it pretty much anywhere.
- 01:50
Thanks to e-readers and reading apps on smart phones, you can read at the beach, waiting
- 01:54
in line at the drive-thru, skydiving, gator wrestling….
- 01:58
Paper books are actually great pieces of technology, too.
- 02:00
We know it’s hard to think of a book as technology, but it’s a heck of a lot better
- 02:04
than carrying stacks of stone tablets wherever you go.
- 02:08
Plus, drop a book in the pool, and the paper will dry out. Can’t say the same for that
- 02:14
e-reader. Books are also a great way to teach us about
- 02:17
the way the world used to be…
- 02:18
…not only about the world the author has created or where they have chosen to set their
- 02:18
novel, but about the world of the author him or herself.
- 02:19
Books are kinda... historical artifacts. They’ll be here longer than any of us.
- 02:23
Thanks mostly to garage sales. There are so many reasons to care about reading,
- 02:27
they could fill a book.
- 02:29
Reading gives you access to unlimited information…
- 02:32
And unlimited entertainment…
- 02:33
Plus you can read absolutely anywhere at any time.
- 02:36
If you already do care about reading, tell someone else why you do.
- 02:39
Just don’t interrupt them while they’re reading.
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