Reading Books vs. Watching TV: A Comparison of Virtues (part 1)
The moving screen is an enthralling thing. Anyone who looks after kids knows the hypnotic qualities of the TV and computer. I know I do, and to be honest I take advantage of it often enough. But there are plenty of times when I pull the plug on that infernal thing and tell my son to ‘go read a book’. True, reading is important (a while ago I did a blogpost on why), but that is not the key issue I want to talk about here.
We all know that moment when the little angel and the little devil on your shoulder start arguing about whether you should read one of your many unread books, or just flop down on the couch with the remote control of the TV. So, how to cut their debate short without your conscience suffering for it?
In Part 1 of this post, I will go over some of the arguments why you should read a book – or not!
Pro’s and Con’s of Reading
Reading is the more visually versatile option. You decide what you see! Your imagination is more seamless than the best CG, the main characters can look any way you want them to and skipping over scary or icky scenes is easier when you don’t need to watch them between your fingers to see when they’re over. Of course, if we don´t put any effort into translating words to images, we don’t get to see anything at all.
Reading is silent. No blaring musical scores, loud explosions or off-putting sound effects. If you are very sensitive to noise (as I am), reading is blissfully quiet. That also means it won’t bother the person sitting next to you on the bus. Not that this would be a problem, considering the wide-spread use of headphones these days.
Reading is also relatively expensive. That is, paper books can be expensive. Thrift stores and e-readers are a help in that respect, so that argument is quickly out the window again. Books take up more space than a smartphone, too. They look good on a shelf, but lugging them around in your bag is heavier than you want to put up with.
Reading jogs the mind. Because you must create your own sensory input, your brain needs to work harder. Like muscles, the more you use your brain, the better it becomes. And all those new insights and ideas help fuel your own creativity and command of language, too. This does require a fair amount of concentration, though. More so if the story you’re reading is a complex one. Every time our smartphone bleeps, people talk, or life in general demands our attention, we’re pulled from that story. Once or twice we will reinvest in diving in, but as such interruptions become more and more frequent, we just give up and open Facebook or Whatsapp or whatever to see what all the fuss is about.
In short, reading is:
Sensory versatile
Exercise for the brain
but
Physically heavy
Mentally demanding.
While fun and rewarding on many levels, reading can also be straining – to your eyes, if nothing else.
Join me next week for Part 2, where the little shoulder imps battle out the pro’s and con’s of watching TV!
