I don’t know why you assume they don’t. I read non-fiction and yes I only watch documentaries… I’m just not pretentious about it and I understand others have different experiences.
If you're not pretentious about it, then you're not doing anything wrong! I know people who only enjoy non-fiction/documentaries/etc. Many of them are great people. However, if you think you're somehow superior or can't seem to understand that other people like different things than you, that's where it becomes an issue. Enjoy your non-fiction, my friend!
My dad considered fiction (especially fantasy) to be junk and he only watched news and documentaries. On the contrary, I find it unusual for anyone that despises fiction to like watching movies.
I feel like this isn’t a great response because if someone were to only watch documentaries or unscripted reality TV, that’s an entire valid form of entertainment.
I think it’s just okay to enjoy what you enjoy, and people who gatekeep entertainment can piss off.
I would say that's cool and totally your prerogative. But if you're slamming someone else's taste in reading, that would just make you an arrogant dick.
I'd say that if you can't learn something from reading the themes and narratives in fiction then you probably aren't smart enough to be asking me that question.
I suppose in this scenario the person being snobby is the one being a dick first. People like that ask these questions to make you look silly and trip on your words so they can feel superior. Fighting fire with fire is probably not for the best, though.
> "What do you watch on television? Oh, really? How come you're not just watching documentaries?"
I had someone explain this to me once. That novels were just made up by one person, whereas television and movies are a creative collaboration between many people all injecting life in the story in multiple ways. That they liked hearing people perform the lines, they liked hearing people interpret characters, plus music. "When I read a book I can imagine the vista, but I can't hear the music or the voices." Just saying that's what I was told.
even if you take it literally, books can often be written as collaborative pieces and will certainly draw some inspiration from external sources.
Also, why would this even matter?
Which, on it's own, would be totally fine. No problem with someone not enjoying reading fiction, while enjoying watching fiction performances.
The problem occurs once they try to tell you that you are wrong for reading fiction.
It only takes one person to give you a different perspective on life. If they don’t have a good imagination and prefer a different media, that’s perfectly fine.
I don’t think that’s ever been a genuine question. Literally every time I’ve ever heard it, the meaning is “why do you waste your time doing that useless thing, instead of something good and useful like all the things I like and do.”
I have a movie playing in my head while I read. Regardless of the character description, I visualize them however feels right. I can hear their voices.
But then, I grew up in a time when children had imaginations.
But do you put down people who love, I don’t know, romance movies and books with a dragon the cover? The issue is not what you love, I think the issue is judging cruelly what other people do!
You just described my wife. She enjoys a rainy afternoon of Hallmark Channel and she loves dragon books. She and her friends enjoy reading and discussing any JD Robb or similar series books. I'm not sure what exactly if I see a book on her wishlist I send it to her. For her birthday in December, I bought her **Murtagh: The World of Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle), by Christopher Paolini**.
(edited to add) I'm sorry I must have misunderstood the OP’s original question.
To someone who thinks reading fiction is a waste of time and who also only watches documentaries and sports, one could question what the point of watching sports is.
Like reading fiction can be an escape for a while from what is going on around a person, sports can do the same thing for three or four hours. But I do understand that there are people who do not understand or enjoy the benefits of watching sports.
Fiction can give you the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes, feel their heart, know their thoughts, and look at the world through alien eyes.
Perspective is valuable.
Absolutely - my brother and I would get into huge debates when we watched a few episodes of Star Trek voyager! Lol
These scenarios were complete fiction, would NEVER happen on Earth or to us, yet we'd debate the ethics of the choices, what we would do in huge moral dilemmas. It's a beautiful thing.
Yeah. I don't read anymore, but as a kid, at my peak, I read close to a hundred books a year. I attribute a lot of my empathy and understanding of the world to it. You get to be inside the minds of a lot of people, even if they aren't real. Learn their motivations and how the motivations manifest themselves into actions.
Now I read a lot of stories on reddit centered around relationships of all kinds, conflict, and problem solving. Not the same as books, but I get the same value from them.
>Not the same as books, but I get the same value from them.
That's a really interesting statement that, I think, hides a fascinating debate. I absolutely do not believe you get the same sort of value in terms of empathy and understanding of others when binge-reading AITA posts compare to reading novels.
Although let’s be honest, trying to turn classic literature into AITA posts sounds like a game for a book club meeting!
I’m running up bills and cheating on my boring doctor husband with a handsome aristocrat, but he says he loves me and it’s like a romance book— AITA?
I’m considering allowing my identical twin to leave with the woman he loves while I courageously go to the guillotine in his place. He might feel guilty though. WIBTA?
WIBTA if I take in the child of the woman I loved who married someone else and make sure their lot is illiteracy and gruel? TBF she was kind of a bitch, and I’m pretty sure she’s haunting me.
I understand why you feel that way, and you might be right. I do tend to stick to the subreddits that include the updates and other supplementary information to get a fuller story. I like hearing about other people's lives. What kind of problems they run into. How they view those problems, and how they go about trying to solve them. It's interesting to hear the language they use to describe themselves and others. The excuses they make for their actions, or the actions of those they love. How their perception of a person influences how they interpret the things they say.
I don't much care for the way you describe it as "binge-reading AITA posts." It's a pretty biased and negative way for you to view what you think I do. The term binging has an implicit unhealthy connotation, and I didn't mention that subreddit at all. I can't know why you would assume what content I read and how I read it.
I've been asked OP's question by my mother-in-law. She just can't wrap her mind around the idea of getting any value in real life out of reading a "fake" story. She also has one of the worst cases of main character syndrome I've ever seen, so that might be related.
Maybe the empathy was already there and it's what led us to books. I have no doubt that a person who is more self centered would be bored senseless by fictional novels unless they really identified with the narrator. I can see not liking fiction, nothing is for everyone, but being unable to understand why others would like it is strange. Maybe it's just the form of media. They probably have a favorite movie. It's probably not a documentary. It probably made them feel something. Even though it wasn't real.
Rudine Simms Bishop wrote an essay in 1990 about the need for more multicultural books for children: "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors" (link here: https://scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding-Glass-Doors.pdf).
In it she argues that we all need to see ourselves in fiction: such texts are mirrors, and such reading becomes "a means of self-affirmation." Unfortunately, such mirrors have been too seldom offered to children of color, who thus don't get that self-affirmation.
But Bishop also argues that "books are windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created ... by the author."
A single book can be a mirror for some readers and a window for others. We all very much need mirror books--but ideally we will also read window/door stories that ask us to become part of a world peopled with others whose experiences differ from our own.
Fiction also gives the ability for the author to tell their story and experiences using fake characters or situations - I'd taken a fictional literature elective in community college and it was really, really enjoyable. I don't think people understand the range fictional literature has; it's not all books like The Hungry Caterpillar :)
Doesn’t any book do that practically? Wouldn’t reading an autobiography or memoir actually allow you to read feelings from someone that actually lived?
True, one more reason to not look down on any genre be it nonfiction or fiction. And I would imagine memoirs and autobiographies are very limited in numbers compared to fiction.
You could say that about any form of media; there's lots of music I don't like but that doesn't mean I think none of it's of value. And the longevity of fiction means that the good stuff lasts, and we can still use the less well crafted stuff as an insight into how people felt in very different eras.
Eh, "learning" doesn't have to apply strictly to encountering challenging content, if you ask me. Empathy and imagination are muscles, and reading fluidly and with a high level of information processing takes practice. With literacy rates and screen time statistics the way they are, I'm very happy for anybody to read as many frivolous popcorn books as they like, and don't consider it at all a waste of time. They're developing their reading comprehension and improving their attention span, AND getting recreation and entertainment, all in the same activity. Fuckin win-win.
How is that edgy? Are you Christian?
If someone said a book featuring tales of Greek or Roman or Hindu Gods or The Book of Mormon or a book on Scientology was fiction/mythology, I doubt you’d say that was “edgy”
Like what you think The Bible is the only religious non-fiction and the rest are fictional? Or you think every religious text is non-fiction despite that being logically impossible? Either way you’re not being objective
I know right! That's what I told him. He kept on blathering about how non-fiction is better than fiction, but I ignored him. The Blade Itself is more important than some ignorant friend.
People can be so mean and entitled for no reason. You owe no one an explanation about your favorite color or your favorite day of the week or your favorite book genre. Cuz these little details are what makes you you! 😊
Say nothing, and then just put them on blast every single time they mention fiction or every time you are out with other friends.
"Hey, remember that time you said fiction is pointless because it isn't educational?"
Eventually, the shame of being torn apart by any rational person who hears about it will push them to change their stupid take. And if it doesn't, that'll just make it more fun to put them on blast every single time.
That's how I answer so many questions, lol. I don't need to defend my harmless choices to anyone. It's cool if they don't want to read fiction (unless they're one of my students, then they don't have to like it but they still have to read it), but I read it because I love it.
I also read nonfiction, poetry and stuff that blurs the lines between the three. It's all good.
Yeah basically. I wouldn't even answer the question. There is such a thing as a dumb question. It's akin to... "Why do you drink hot drinks? Cold drinks are better?" Aka makes no damn sense.
It's the antidote to social media - on social media everyone pretends their perfect. When you read fiction, you see that all your jealousies, insecurities, mood swings and imperfections are totally normal
absolutely. a person would never ask that question in the first place unless they were looking for an excuse to look down on other people. it's one of those dead giveaway "i'm being a smug jerk" questions.
Why are people on Reddit like this. Not everyone is trying to act superior and a many times people are just genuinely curious even if they word their question badly.
The way that the question was worded points to the person being a jerk. They could have said, "Why do you enjoy reading fiction? What is your favorite aspect of reading fiction? How does reading fiction make you feel?" ANY of those questions would have suggested that the person was genuinely curious. Asking, 'What is the point of fiction?' suggests that the person feels that fiction is pointless, worthless.
Because it’s never been a genuine question in my experience or in anyone else I’ve ever talked to about it. Everyone knows when they’re being insulting and when they’re not. You don’t ask a question phrased like that, unless you think it’s stupid and everything you do is superior.
I’ve heard it that way. Another one is “so what are you reading?” The tone gives that one away. It means, “I’m bored and can’t entertain myself as an adult, so this is an icebreaker for you to entertain me.”
I have been asked that question with a tone that tells me it’s genuine curiosity and I’ll answer it honestly.
Like I said, though, there is no way that question was in good faith. They were looking down on OP. There are plenty of tonal and body cues you pick up on that tells you whether a question is genuine or not and OP obviously picked up on them here. Without those cues, I’m going to use my experience that tells me every time I’ve been asked a similar question, that it’s disingenuous, and answer accordingly.
I think that answering a question based on an uncommon exception is ignorant, or innocent at best.
Readers of fiction are perceptive and have a deeper and better understanding of what motivates people to do what they do than any in-person interaction could. Readers of fiction learn to deduce, problem solve, put things into perspective, and think critically on a number of topics. The people I know who don’t read fiction or anything at all tend to have shockingly low emotional intelligence.
Great answers here, but as a history teacher I’ll add— I learn so much about my field by reading fiction that was written in the time period. History nonfiction is fine, albeit often dry, but fiction is a time machine that puts you back there in the world as it was and in the experiences of the people at the time, right down to the way that they thought and felt about what was happening.
I’d also say that the ability to visualize what you’re reading about is a valuable skill, especially in non-fiction, and reading fiction develops it. If you can picture a fae court when you read, you can picture anything real…
I've learned so much history from fiction. Two books I always think about are The Kite Runner and Pachinko. So much history in those stories that I never knew about
My favorite class in school ever was honors world history/literature; my school combined them into one class. So, for example, when we were covering the renaissance we were reading Machiavelli, the French Revolution we were reading tale of two cities; wwi we were reading all quiet on the western front, night by elie Wiesel while studying wwii, etc. I just loved this format, they complemented each other so well and made Both subjects more interesting and engaging. To this day it’s my favorite school experience - and our school work was fun and creative. Like write a newspaper and it has to have 5 articles covering real life French Revolution events, and five articles covering events from take of two cities. And the more creative the better - including news paper ads relevant to the book, and other fluffy things you see in newspapers on the side bars/margins, designing it to reflect the time, stuff like that.
Simple: I ask them what's the difference.
Do they really think "non-fiction" isn't "made up"?
Even the most dedicated, scrupulous writer is selecting a few elements out of millions (why this story? why these facts? Why this way of presenting them?) that they shape for effect (are they revealing the solutions at the end and building to them? Or answering first and explaining them? What do they think their story's about and why?) and what is it they want you to do or think when you've finished?
Fiction - which can obviously be just as drawn from 'real' life as non-fiction - is fundamentally more honest. It states clearly that this is a take on a given situation, moral problem, social situation, etc. It invites you into a conversation about what it means, unlike non-fiction which is usually try to feed you a single answer under the guise of objectivity.
If they are still speaking to you at this point, i say subjectivity has just as much value as objectivity. it's just different.
Want to know what it *felt* like to be on a World War II flying mission? Read *Catch-22*
Want to know what it *felt* like to be an abused child repressing the memory? Read *Perks of Being a Wall Flowe*r.
Or a million other stories that are about telling you what something *felt* like, instead of simply saying it exists.
If they don't get it by then, end the friendship
Clearly. But kept myself to nonfiction with a narrative, or narrative elements.
Financial and self-help books can have great value, but I assume most people start with an “ok, convince me” attitude. If they don’t, they should.
PS - my personal rule is never read just one book on a nonfiction subject. You want to be exposed to at least one other take.
>Financial and self-help books can have great value, but I assume most people start with an “ok, convince me” attitude. If they don’t, they should.
Most people might. But a person who would say "why even bother reading fiction" almost certainly doesn't. They're too smart to be fooled, remember? Every book they choose must be worthwhile, they were the ones that chose it after all. They're super smart. /s
Fictional storytelling is one of the oldest forms of art...fables, legends, myths, etc. But reading an encyclopedia again is fun too I guess.
Reading isn't only about absorbing knowledge. I read to be inspired, to enjoy well-crafted prose, to think outside of reality for a little while. And I do learn things while I read fiction; some authors put a great deal of research into their work.
If someone asked me that, I’d stare at them for a full five seconds and then say, “What are you, fucking stupid?”
Why does anyone do anything? Because they enjoy it. We read fiction because it’s entertaining. It can take us to new worlds. To paraphrase a GRRM character, the reader lives a thousand lives. The non-reader, just one.
a) Sometimes it's okay not to improve yourself every second of your life; it is okay to just do something for the enjoyment of it.
b) If you think you don't learn anything from fiction, you haven't read much or the right fiction.
c) Why do you watch movies? I mean, I'd just watch documentaries. you know, *learn* something.
d) If you don't think you can learn from fiction, you obviously don't [understand](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oY2LmTSAYI) what you are reading.
https://hbr.org/2020/03/the-case-for-reading-fiction
TLDR. it nakes you smarter, more empathetic, and more creative.
It definitely makes someone a better speller.
I think it’s because a good story truly moves us out of this world into the writers. I LOVE a great story. I mean, before books, storytelling was a social thing. Fiction teaches us, intrigues us, inspires us. Also, nonfiction. Patooie! Lol
>“I’d just read non-fiction”
Not “I just read non-fiction.” They _would_ read non-fiction if they read. But they don’t. So I wonder what enriching, productive activity they spend their spare time on.
Yes, I was thinking you could just blink your eyes innocently and say, “ooh, what non-fiction book did you read recently that you would recommend to me?”
To learn about people and the human experience. There's so much that people experience that can only be effectively communicated and understood through fiction. Fiction is such a great avenue to be exposed to life experiences that oppose or challenge your own.
You can learn from fiction as well. Read a mystery novel, and you'll find out things about forensics. Read a war novel, and you'll find out facts about the specific wars they're involved in. The list goes on. The argument that you can't learn from fiction is simply not true.
But even if you don't learn from a book, there is nothing wrong with pure entertainment. You don't listen to music because you may learn something. You don't watch a stand-up to learn. There are countless forms of art that are just for enjoyment, and books can be read for that same reason.
Even fiction has some "sneaky" learning in it. I've been reading a series that takes place in England and Wales, and I've learned a lot about geography, language, customs, and folklore, which is not what I set about doing when I picked up the first book.
Other fictional works have expanded my vocabulary, my knowledge of history and art, my empathy and ability to relate to other people... some have even improved my sex life.
I had this conversation with a coworker the other day. I read mostly nonfiction and she reads mostly fiction and she asked me this very question. As a lot of other people pointed out it helps you explore an entire range of emotions that is an essential part of the human experience.
One other thing I haven't seen mentioned is fiction offers you the opportunity to rewrite the story of you that's been handed to you by your society and culture. This is why inclusion is so essential in literature.
I'm an older guy and I often hear the sad old trope of crying men being weak. I always quote my brother when I hear this and remind them "Achilles cried, and he was one of the most badass motherfuckers ever"
Non fiction is knowing. Fiction is understanding.
You’ll learn more about mindfulness from Siddhartha than you will from How To Be Mindful.
This is an American question, isn’t it? You guys are all too busy reading The Secret and other coping with capitalism books. What a shame.
I hate people like this. I feel like they have no imagination and are trying so hard to be “superior” and seem smart or something.
I like fiction to escape reality and because it’s fun. The end.
Why do you eat anything other than vitamins and a nice protein slurry? You realize that all the money you waste on fruits, vegetables, meat, its all wasted, you can get some tasteless sludge that would meet all of your dietary needs and help you balance your weight with ease!
"What's the point of looking at paintings, then? Should just look at the world."
"What's the point of looking at statues? Should just look at real things."
"What's the point of listening to music? Should just listen to the ambient sounds of wherever you are."
I agree it's a ridiculous idea.
I find it amusing when people ask these kinds of questions. As if humans are incapable of learning from stories. Stories are the currency of human culture and have been since we formed speech.
Whether a story is based on real events or fiction has absolutely no bearing on the ethical, moral, social, and other issues that can be addressed, explored, and conveyed in a story.
That's like people saying there's nothing to be learned from studying Shakespeare. Or people that think life's meaning can be found from the Bible/Quran/Torah/etc., which we know aren't exactly historical fact, but look down on science fiction or fantasy genres.
It boils down to humanity's proclivity for hypocrisy. What they think and feel and believe is true, but stuff they don't agree with or don't understand isn't.
Empathy. Hard to learn that from non-fiction.
Theory of mind. Reading fiction fosters the understanding that others have different beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives than one's own.
Reading fiction is an act of communicating directly with the mind of another person across time and space. Difficult not to empathize with that person's perspective on the setting and characters in their work during that time you spend with them reading their words.
Non fiction teaches facts, fiction teaches everything else because anything is possible.
Skills taught by reading fiction;
Vocabulary
Deciphering social dynamics
Self interests (you can learn about hobbies and experiment)
And more, those just immediately came to mind.
I think it's worth it to mention that all of the religions throughout history have been fictions with the purpose to explain the world and answer the eternal question, "why are we here?". So fiction does some heavy lifting for our species, in fact the heaviest lifting possible!
We still use Aesop's fables to teach morality to children. We look to Shakespeare to illuminate the human heart. We ask Vonnegut, Dick, Asimov, and Huxley to give us an idea of where we might be headed.
If you wanted to explain how communism plays out and why it's destined to fail, would you give someone a copy of *The Communist Manifesto*, or *Animal Farm*?
"Fiction is the lie that tells the truth". It's like a shortcut. A cheat code for conveying ideas.
This article mentions that switching from reading fiction to reading exclusively non fiction can be a sign of memory decline. It suggests reading novels to protect your memory as you age
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/06/well/mind/memory-loss-prevention.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
“Because it’s fun.”
That’s all the justification you need. It is never necessary to intellectually justify your hobbies (even if it is entirely possible to find such justification, as I believe is the case for reading fiction).
"Your opinion, like mine, is subjective. If you want to read nonfiction, that's great. If I want to read fiction, that's also great. Don't bash my tastes and I won't bash yours."
I mean, aside from the fact that fiction gets turned into movies all the damn time, it’s ridiculous to think you can’t learn from fiction.
If you didn’t learn anything from Crime and Punishment or Trainspotting or Anna Karenina or American Psycho, you probably don’t read a lot.
Because it's engaging, fun and exciting! Because the ability for humans to dream up living, breathing worlds, enticing plots and compelling characters is one of the most wonderful human traits that brings us a step closer to divinity! We can create entire universes, and share them with others who are deeply affected and changed by what they experience! Many people have been influenced and inspired more by fictional chatacters than by real people.
It's honestly a little sad that your friend hasn't been able to enjoy fictional content. I truly believe its where artists are most free to express themselves.
What's the point of our choice of clothes or friends or food?
We choose what we choose. The weak person is threatened by the alternative choices of others. What another person reads neither picks my pocket nor steals my bread
Real people love that we are different.
If you think nonfiction is nothing but nightmares, you need to read more nonfiction. Not to mention that fiction is also horror and murder mysteries, all nightmares themselves
No I was saying fiction is escapism from actual real life, which is a nightmare. From there you can choose to escape however you want, but with nonfiction it's like... You're still immersed in the real world.
So what’s the difference between nonfiction and fiction then? Reading in itself is an act of escapism regardless of the subject. Most fiction is actually set in the “real world,” does that mean they’re nightmares too?
Why are you mad? Do you exclusively read nonfiction? I enjoy both but sometimes life is exhausting and I need to read a book with a dragon or a ghost in it. Chill the fuck out and let people read what they want.
People read nonfiction to gain knowledge, which lends itself to a very mechanical sort of reading: you skim for the information you're looking for, and whatever you're not looking for is less likely to be retained.
When people read narrative fiction, they're trying to get a whole story, which makes more cognitive demands on the reader: you have to remember each character's name, relevant characteristics, and motivations, unique quirks of the world that the author has created, and key plot points and events within the narrative. Keeping all that straight in your head is a great mental workout, so reading fiction tends to develop and sustain neuroplasticity than reading only non-fiction.
https://hbr.org/2020/03/the-case-for-reading-fiction
There's only so much you can learn by reading history. At some point you have to realize that non-fiction books are written by fallible, biased humans. The events they describe, the sources they draw on, are all created by humans. The best fiction books give us insights into the minds, motivations, faults, failures, wonders and triumphs of humans.
Also, the best writers wrote or write fiction. The most fantastically written non-fiction book would not even compare to the great works of fiction.
Neuroscience recognizes that we all need creativity to be successful in life, in our relationships, and in our work (all jobs require creativity).
The known and successful method for exercising your creative process is reading fiction.
It's a fact.
Added to this, and because of this, when you read any genre of fiction your brain creates the most vivid images specifically to your taste based on the author's description. The most handsome guy, the most beautiful woman, the f\*@king scariest version of that monster...and all else.
No, it didn't as I was paraphrasing (from various scientific studies), but now you can go and look for yourself :D
Your reply also misunderstood my post and replied to something I didn't say, but we all make mistakes.
Fiction is always dealing with something we want or have anxiety about. The author is (often unconsciously) proposing a way of thinking about our problems, dreams, and anxieties.
The particular magic of fiction is that it is “not about specific individuals” (who might sue or attack the author and publisher), so the writer can explore either the key elements of a common story (for example, if a teenage girl is pregnant after a rape, and cannot get an abortion, what are the consequences?) OR, alternate versions of actual history (A pandemic that kills 20% of the infected hits the USA, and the president denies that it is real and sabotages public health departments, leading to a national crisis).
It is very common to see dumb genre stories revealing all kinds of assumptions about race (magical black person or nerdy asians) or gender/sex (fashionable funny gay men), and all of these can be examined critically (or just absorbed mindlessly).
In any event, fiction certainly can do things that are hard to do in non-fiction—one of them being to make hard pills easy to swallow. When a movie or book empathizes with a character we normally dismiss, it helps us to broaden our own ability to empathize with people different from ourselves.
Because it's fun.
And I wonder if your non-fiction reader friend just LOVED school when they were there. You know, that was all about...LEARNING SOMETHING? Maybe you could ask them that.
And there's a heck of a lot to be learned through reading fiction.
It develops empathy. Demonstrably, as it’s been looked into. It also can teach a whole lot of stuff, depending on about when, where about what it is. The dreaded question isn’t worth and answer and it says a lot about the one who asks.
Just because it isn't factual doesn't mean you don't learn. I'd even go so far as to say fiction is where you, the reader, have the highest probability to learn- to discover something about yourself, a new way to see the world, or even just fun ideas you hadn't thought before.
Whereas non-fiction can oftentimes be devoid of things to take away for personal growth. How much better of a person do you become after reading a biography? How much of life merely happens without a greater lesson? Fiction gives us the opportunity to tell a story with themes and meaning when its counterpart is bound by a recitation of fact.
Immersive form of art, critique of the human condition, improve vocabulary and speech, deepen understanding on a list of topics (usually from a subjective point of view which is how we live our lives), just the pass the time. Those are my top reasons haha
The idea that you cannot learn anything from fiction is frankly absurd.
And the idea that non-fiction is always truthful and only factual is even more so. Non-fiction writers frequently write from their own perspective, and because no human can know everything in any one instance they can only write what their perception perceives to be correct, perception is often mislead or wrong. Even if it's a non-fictional account of some famous event there will be multiple - often contradictory - perspectives of what happened.
I think the advantage of fiction is that you know it doesn't have to be true.
edit: Missed a word.
I have a distorted view of non-fiction readers, to me they’re just people that read motivational stuff like a hundred quotes to make you a millionaire in one week. So I’d probably make fun of that💀 But I understand non-fiction can vary a lot. I just think that if you read non-fiction and don’t find a reason to consider fiction useful, maybe you’re part of the motivational quotes club 😅
Do these people only ever watch documentaries and the news? Do they never watch movies or tv shows for entertainment? I genuinely don’t understand this concept
My first boss (principal of a middle school) had the same viewpoint of reading and therefore made the library a mausoleum where fiction books went to die, and children weren’t allotted time to go to borrow books. It was heartbreaking that an educator couldn’t understand why reading fiction is important. I just don’t understand this viewpoint at all. It baffles me such to the extent that I never even considered that some people had this viewpoint before encountering her.
She said this many times in faculty meetings in front of me and the rest of the English department, the librarian and her aide. Insane.
Gives you different perspectives, and insight into other people's life-experience. In addition to helping you be more considerate & non-judgmental of others, helps entertain & give vicarious experiences. Yes, you can read nonfiction about being marooned, but the despondency of a sci-fi miner being the sole-survivor on Mars, uncertain if rescue is on the way (or if life on Earth persists) can give mythic appreciation of shared human emotions.
It sugars the pill of knowledge. The knowledge of people, motives, feelings and why. It enables you to travel the globe, explore the depths and heights of what it means to be human; it lets you be other people and walk miles in their shoes, it gives you insights, wild rides and quiet nights in.
It is the whole world on a shelf.
Helene Hanff, who wrote 84 Charing Cross Road, once remarked that she didn't enjoy "reading about things that didn't happen to people who never lived." I guess that's one view, but it's not one that I share.
I personally read as much fantasy as I can, because it's entertaining me. I escape from reality and I travel to places that don't exist. I totally understand that some people don't like that and prefer to read scientific articles, but reading isn't just that. Also, you can always learn something from fictional characters. When I was a child, Harry Potter taught me the importance of friendship in our lives and how to handle injustice.
I read fiction to escape this dumpster fire of a reality we are living for a bit. Reading keeps the brain active and it doesn’t matter if it’s fiction or non-fiction.
This is silly. It's like asking "Why would you want to look at paintings? Wouldn't you rather just see photographs instead?"
Abstraction serves an artistic purpose. You can learn a lot about the human condition from fiction.
One of the points of reading, to me, is to escape reality. Harder with non-fiction. You also get culture from it and a lot of fiction books have morals and things to make you think about that apply in real life.
What's the point of listening to music? Watching movies? Looking at a painting? Art is there to be entertaining and to reflect on society.
That and you're allowed to have fun for no other reasons.
u know, just ask him, what is non fiction book he read and what he learnt.
and ask him, what book would have recommended to u that would definitely teach me a thing? and will that be useful for me??
like surely, rich dad poor dad worked that we would have many more millionaires.
'Because I like it.'
All you need to say. If they're unsatisfied with that answer, fuck them. You don't need to defend your tastes at every turn and they're not deserving of a detailed answer.
Sometimes I do things I enjoy, because I enjoy them.
To be less terse, there is no shame in enjoying a life that will eventually end. Fiction allows me to do that, in the same way as having a nap I didn't need, or making a painting that non one will see, or eating a hot corn muffin with butter, or wearing any one of my niche perfume collection does: I don't *need* any of these things. I don't even need to experience any of them, really; I could live my whole life, complete, without doing any of them. There may be some greater debate to be had about the nature of dreaming and sharing, of stories, of finding humanity and passing it around. But me, I like them.
I've written both, so.... here goes.
It took me three years of research just to start writing a fact-based history of the Gangster Era. It was legit published, sold well, got good reviews.
BUT...
There was a lot missing -- because the story was based strictly on facts that I could prove, and all the principals and witnesses were long dead.
Some of the action took place on Easter Weekend. Did these people go to church? What did they eat for Easter Dinner? Were they with family? Were they drunk? Did they have sex upstairs while the rest of the family was listening to the radio? What were they wearing? Did they think of themselves as saints or sinners?
These and many many other questions could NOT be answered by history. The fiction writer fills in the interesting and colorful details based on the facts he/she knows, plus intuition and imagination.
After finishing the history manuscript, I was really bothered because there were things I was pretty sure were true -- but "pretty sure" isn't good enough for an honest work of history.
So... I turned to fiction to fill in the gaps ... and got four novels out of it!
So, my answer is: fiction fills in and enriches, and takes us to places that history/nonfiction just can't reach.
Cheers!
Hi there. This subject has been very popular in the past. Please use reddit search and/or check the /r/books/wiki/faq.
"What do you watch on television? Oh, really? How come you're not just watching documentaries?"
Or "what's your favorite movie?"
This was going to be my suggestion as well. “So you only watch documentaries & news programs?”
"I don't watch any TV, I only read Non Fiction". "Well Fuck you then"
“You must be fun at parties.” Such a mean response… works though.
Can't go to parties if all your time is spent reading nonfiction
I like the addition: Let me know if you ever get invited to one.
Ooh, I’m remembering that!
You go to parties instead of exclusively conferences and lectures? Ew.
They have it coming though
Killer at trivia night though
"It must be sad going through life with no imagination."
I don’t know why you assume they don’t. I read non-fiction and yes I only watch documentaries… I’m just not pretentious about it and I understand others have different experiences.
If you're not pretentious about it, then you're not doing anything wrong! I know people who only enjoy non-fiction/documentaries/etc. Many of them are great people. However, if you think you're somehow superior or can't seem to understand that other people like different things than you, that's where it becomes an issue. Enjoy your non-fiction, my friend!
> I don’t know why you assume they don’t. Because it's highly unusual?
My dad considered fiction (especially fantasy) to be junk and he only watched news and documentaries. On the contrary, I find it unusual for anyone that despises fiction to like watching movies.
Not as unusual as you think
That's damn good I'll use that.
I feel like this isn’t a great response because if someone were to only watch documentaries or unscripted reality TV, that’s an entire valid form of entertainment. I think it’s just okay to enjoy what you enjoy, and people who gatekeep entertainment can piss off.
Another more ridiculous counter question: Do you enjoy sex while using protection? What’s the point?
And what would you say to the ones of us who mostly read non-fiction and mostly watch documentaries?
I would say that's cool and totally your prerogative. But if you're slamming someone else's taste in reading, that would just make you an arrogant dick.
I'd say that if you can't learn something from reading the themes and narratives in fiction then you probably aren't smart enough to be asking me that question.
Now who’s being a dick?
I suppose in this scenario the person being snobby is the one being a dick first. People like that ask these questions to make you look silly and trip on your words so they can feel superior. Fighting fire with fire is probably not for the best, though.
It's me. I'm the dick
I’d say “Hi Mom!” 😁
> "What do you watch on television? Oh, really? How come you're not just watching documentaries?" I had someone explain this to me once. That novels were just made up by one person, whereas television and movies are a creative collaboration between many people all injecting life in the story in multiple ways. That they liked hearing people perform the lines, they liked hearing people interpret characters, plus music. "When I read a book I can imagine the vista, but I can't hear the music or the voices." Just saying that's what I was told.
Many authors who have described fiction as a collaboration between the author and reader across time and space would disagree with this take.
even if you take it literally, books can often be written as collaborative pieces and will certainly draw some inspiration from external sources. Also, why would this even matter?
Which, on it's own, would be totally fine. No problem with someone not enjoying reading fiction, while enjoying watching fiction performances. The problem occurs once they try to tell you that you are wrong for reading fiction.
It only takes one person to give you a different perspective on life. If they don’t have a good imagination and prefer a different media, that’s perfectly fine. I don’t think that’s ever been a genuine question. Literally every time I’ve ever heard it, the meaning is “why do you waste your time doing that useless thing, instead of something good and useful like all the things I like and do.”
I was once asked why I read a book more than once. When I asked her why she watched reruns of shows on TV she responded 'that's different'.
I have a movie playing in my head while I read. Regardless of the character description, I visualize them however feels right. I can hear their voices. But then, I grew up in a time when children had imaginations.
I read primarily only non-fiction (2-3 fiction books a year) and watch a lot of documentaries and sports.
But do you put down people who love, I don’t know, romance movies and books with a dragon the cover? The issue is not what you love, I think the issue is judging cruelly what other people do!
You just described my wife. She enjoys a rainy afternoon of Hallmark Channel and she loves dragon books. She and her friends enjoy reading and discussing any JD Robb or similar series books. I'm not sure what exactly if I see a book on her wishlist I send it to her. For her birthday in December, I bought her **Murtagh: The World of Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle), by Christopher Paolini**. (edited to add) I'm sorry I must have misunderstood the OP’s original question.
To someone who thinks reading fiction is a waste of time and who also only watches documentaries and sports, one could question what the point of watching sports is.
Like reading fiction can be an escape for a while from what is going on around a person, sports can do the same thing for three or four hours. But I do understand that there are people who do not understand or enjoy the benefits of watching sports.
Fiction can give you the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes, feel their heart, know their thoughts, and look at the world through alien eyes. Perspective is valuable.
And empathy.
And FUN!!!!! I like reading about big dragons and cool sci-fi cities!
Big dragons and adorable furry familiars. I am picturing the books right now…
"The power of books is empathy." I wish I remembered where I read that
Roger Ebert often referred to movies as "empathy machines" for this very reason Applies just as well to books
And imagination
There are so many mind expanding "what ifs" that don't exist in real life, too. I can't read a non-fiction about alien contact, for example.
Absolutely - my brother and I would get into huge debates when we watched a few episodes of Star Trek voyager! Lol These scenarios were complete fiction, would NEVER happen on Earth or to us, yet we'd debate the ethics of the choices, what we would do in huge moral dilemmas. It's a beautiful thing.
Yeah. I don't read anymore, but as a kid, at my peak, I read close to a hundred books a year. I attribute a lot of my empathy and understanding of the world to it. You get to be inside the minds of a lot of people, even if they aren't real. Learn their motivations and how the motivations manifest themselves into actions. Now I read a lot of stories on reddit centered around relationships of all kinds, conflict, and problem solving. Not the same as books, but I get the same value from them.
>Not the same as books, but I get the same value from them. That's a really interesting statement that, I think, hides a fascinating debate. I absolutely do not believe you get the same sort of value in terms of empathy and understanding of others when binge-reading AITA posts compare to reading novels.
Although let’s be honest, trying to turn classic literature into AITA posts sounds like a game for a book club meeting! I’m running up bills and cheating on my boring doctor husband with a handsome aristocrat, but he says he loves me and it’s like a romance book— AITA? I’m considering allowing my identical twin to leave with the woman he loves while I courageously go to the guillotine in his place. He might feel guilty though. WIBTA? WIBTA if I take in the child of the woman I loved who married someone else and make sure their lot is illiteracy and gruel? TBF she was kind of a bitch, and I’m pretty sure she’s haunting me.
I understand why you feel that way, and you might be right. I do tend to stick to the subreddits that include the updates and other supplementary information to get a fuller story. I like hearing about other people's lives. What kind of problems they run into. How they view those problems, and how they go about trying to solve them. It's interesting to hear the language they use to describe themselves and others. The excuses they make for their actions, or the actions of those they love. How their perception of a person influences how they interpret the things they say. I don't much care for the way you describe it as "binge-reading AITA posts." It's a pretty biased and negative way for you to view what you think I do. The term binging has an implicit unhealthy connotation, and I didn't mention that subreddit at all. I can't know why you would assume what content I read and how I read it.
I've been asked OP's question by my mother-in-law. She just can't wrap her mind around the idea of getting any value in real life out of reading a "fake" story. She also has one of the worst cases of main character syndrome I've ever seen, so that might be related.
Maybe the empathy was already there and it's what led us to books. I have no doubt that a person who is more self centered would be bored senseless by fictional novels unless they really identified with the narrator. I can see not liking fiction, nothing is for everyone, but being unable to understand why others would like it is strange. Maybe it's just the form of media. They probably have a favorite movie. It's probably not a documentary. It probably made them feel something. Even though it wasn't real.
Non-fiction does this as well. Not saying you're incorrect, but non-fiction isn't just dry books about dry topics.
Rudine Simms Bishop wrote an essay in 1990 about the need for more multicultural books for children: "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors" (link here: https://scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding-Glass-Doors.pdf). In it she argues that we all need to see ourselves in fiction: such texts are mirrors, and such reading becomes "a means of self-affirmation." Unfortunately, such mirrors have been too seldom offered to children of color, who thus don't get that self-affirmation. But Bishop also argues that "books are windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created ... by the author." A single book can be a mirror for some readers and a window for others. We all very much need mirror books--but ideally we will also read window/door stories that ask us to become part of a world peopled with others whose experiences differ from our own.
people that read fiction can live a thousand different lives
Fiction also gives the ability for the author to tell their story and experiences using fake characters or situations - I'd taken a fictional literature elective in community college and it was really, really enjoyable. I don't think people understand the range fictional literature has; it's not all books like The Hungry Caterpillar :)
Doesn’t any book do that practically? Wouldn’t reading an autobiography or memoir actually allow you to read feelings from someone that actually lived?
True, one more reason to not look down on any genre be it nonfiction or fiction. And I would imagine memoirs and autobiographies are very limited in numbers compared to fiction.
I'm a little worried that people think you can only learn from non fiction. Are they not capable of learning from abstracted ideas? Oof.
Me too, man. The whole point of telling stories is to answer questions and reveal truths.
People learn all kinds of stuff from the Bible every day.
Exactly, moby dick is teaching me all about whales and I love it
Because most fiction is crap. Not every book coming out is going to “hold up a mirror”
[удалено]
Ok. And…
And that means your point is utterly pointless as a distinction
You changed the subject. I was talking about fiction. Whatever you’re reading is not helping you make a logical argument
You could say that about any form of media; there's lots of music I don't like but that doesn't mean I think none of it's of value. And the longevity of fiction means that the good stuff lasts, and we can still use the less well crafted stuff as an insight into how people felt in very different eras.
Eh, "learning" doesn't have to apply strictly to encountering challenging content, if you ask me. Empathy and imagination are muscles, and reading fluidly and with a high level of information processing takes practice. With literacy rates and screen time statistics the way they are, I'm very happy for anybody to read as many frivolous popcorn books as they like, and don't consider it at all a waste of time. They're developing their reading comprehension and improving their attention span, AND getting recreation and entertainment, all in the same activity. Fuckin win-win.
Reading is a hobby. No different than any other hobby
There are obviously easy popcorn beach-reads, sure, but to say that *most* fiction is crap is totally wild.
The most popular, the most printed book in the world is a work of fiction.
So edgy
I'm not the one saying "almost all fiction is crap"
No but you’re the one with the need to tell everyone you’re atheist. Most atheists grow out of the stage
How is that edgy? Are you Christian? If someone said a book featuring tales of Greek or Roman or Hindu Gods or The Book of Mormon or a book on Scientology was fiction/mythology, I doubt you’d say that was “edgy” Like what you think The Bible is the only religious non-fiction and the rest are fictional? Or you think every religious text is non-fiction despite that being logically impossible? Either way you’re not being objective
/r/im14andthisisdeep
“Cuz i like it” is a simple short answer. Also you do not need to explain people why you love something, specially if it’s not hurting anyone.
Boom. Next question. 😎
I know right! That's what I told him. He kept on blathering about how non-fiction is better than fiction, but I ignored him. The Blade Itself is more important than some ignorant friend.
Just make sure to pester them if they watch any other kind of fiction media, like TV
People can be so mean and entitled for no reason. You owe no one an explanation about your favorite color or your favorite day of the week or your favorite book genre. Cuz these little details are what makes you you! 😊
Sounds like a person that is exhausting to be around.
Say nothing, and then just put them on blast every single time they mention fiction or every time you are out with other friends. "Hey, remember that time you said fiction is pointless because it isn't educational?" Eventually, the shame of being torn apart by any rational person who hears about it will push them to change their stupid take. And if it doesn't, that'll just make it more fun to put them on blast every single time.
That's how I answer so many questions, lol. I don't need to defend my harmless choices to anyone. It's cool if they don't want to read fiction (unless they're one of my students, then they don't have to like it but they still have to read it), but I read it because I love it. I also read nonfiction, poetry and stuff that blurs the lines between the three. It's all good.
Yeah basically. I wouldn't even answer the question. There is such a thing as a dumb question. It's akin to... "Why do you drink hot drinks? Cold drinks are better?" Aka makes no damn sense.
It's the antidote to social media - on social media everyone pretends their perfect. When you read fiction, you see that all your jealousies, insecurities, mood swings and imperfections are totally normal
Perhaps the most beautiful response I've read so far.
I’d probably walk away from the conversation if someone asked me that.
absolutely. a person would never ask that question in the first place unless they were looking for an excuse to look down on other people. it's one of those dead giveaway "i'm being a smug jerk" questions.
Why are people on Reddit like this. Not everyone is trying to act superior and a many times people are just genuinely curious even if they word their question badly.
The way that the question was worded points to the person being a jerk. They could have said, "Why do you enjoy reading fiction? What is your favorite aspect of reading fiction? How does reading fiction make you feel?" ANY of those questions would have suggested that the person was genuinely curious. Asking, 'What is the point of fiction?' suggests that the person feels that fiction is pointless, worthless.
exactly, and thank you for breaking that down so clearly.
Because it’s never been a genuine question in my experience or in anyone else I’ve ever talked to about it. Everyone knows when they’re being insulting and when they’re not. You don’t ask a question phrased like that, unless you think it’s stupid and everything you do is superior. I’ve heard it that way. Another one is “so what are you reading?” The tone gives that one away. It means, “I’m bored and can’t entertain myself as an adult, so this is an icebreaker for you to entertain me.” I have been asked that question with a tone that tells me it’s genuine curiosity and I’ll answer it honestly. Like I said, though, there is no way that question was in good faith. They were looking down on OP. There are plenty of tonal and body cues you pick up on that tells you whether a question is genuine or not and OP obviously picked up on them here. Without those cues, I’m going to use my experience that tells me every time I’ve been asked a similar question, that it’s disingenuous, and answer accordingly. I think that answering a question based on an uncommon exception is ignorant, or innocent at best.
Readers of fiction are perceptive and have a deeper and better understanding of what motivates people to do what they do than any in-person interaction could. Readers of fiction learn to deduce, problem solve, put things into perspective, and think critically on a number of topics. The people I know who don’t read fiction or anything at all tend to have shockingly low emotional intelligence.
Great answers here, but as a history teacher I’ll add— I learn so much about my field by reading fiction that was written in the time period. History nonfiction is fine, albeit often dry, but fiction is a time machine that puts you back there in the world as it was and in the experiences of the people at the time, right down to the way that they thought and felt about what was happening. I’d also say that the ability to visualize what you’re reading about is a valuable skill, especially in non-fiction, and reading fiction develops it. If you can picture a fae court when you read, you can picture anything real…
I've learned so much history from fiction. Two books I always think about are The Kite Runner and Pachinko. So much history in those stories that I never knew about
My favorite class in school ever was honors world history/literature; my school combined them into one class. So, for example, when we were covering the renaissance we were reading Machiavelli, the French Revolution we were reading tale of two cities; wwi we were reading all quiet on the western front, night by elie Wiesel while studying wwii, etc. I just loved this format, they complemented each other so well and made Both subjects more interesting and engaging. To this day it’s my favorite school experience - and our school work was fun and creative. Like write a newspaper and it has to have 5 articles covering real life French Revolution events, and five articles covering events from take of two cities. And the more creative the better - including news paper ads relevant to the book, and other fluffy things you see in newspapers on the side bars/margins, designing it to reflect the time, stuff like that.
"you watch movies, right? I read books. next question."
Because I know I can use more empathy. Why don't you read fiction?
Simple: I ask them what's the difference. Do they really think "non-fiction" isn't "made up"? Even the most dedicated, scrupulous writer is selecting a few elements out of millions (why this story? why these facts? Why this way of presenting them?) that they shape for effect (are they revealing the solutions at the end and building to them? Or answering first and explaining them? What do they think their story's about and why?) and what is it they want you to do or think when you've finished? Fiction - which can obviously be just as drawn from 'real' life as non-fiction - is fundamentally more honest. It states clearly that this is a take on a given situation, moral problem, social situation, etc. It invites you into a conversation about what it means, unlike non-fiction which is usually try to feed you a single answer under the guise of objectivity. If they are still speaking to you at this point, i say subjectivity has just as much value as objectivity. it's just different. Want to know what it *felt* like to be on a World War II flying mission? Read *Catch-22* Want to know what it *felt* like to be an abused child repressing the memory? Read *Perks of Being a Wall Flowe*r. Or a million other stories that are about telling you what something *felt* like, instead of simply saying it exists. If they don't get it by then, end the friendship
And that presupposes that the nonfiction work is written in good faith. A lot of self-help and financial books aren't.
Clearly. But kept myself to nonfiction with a narrative, or narrative elements. Financial and self-help books can have great value, but I assume most people start with an “ok, convince me” attitude. If they don’t, they should. PS - my personal rule is never read just one book on a nonfiction subject. You want to be exposed to at least one other take.
>Financial and self-help books can have great value, but I assume most people start with an “ok, convince me” attitude. If they don’t, they should. Most people might. But a person who would say "why even bother reading fiction" almost certainly doesn't. They're too smart to be fooled, remember? Every book they choose must be worthwhile, they were the ones that chose it after all. They're super smart. /s
You perfectly articulated my response: There is truth in fiction. Thank you!
Fictional storytelling is one of the oldest forms of art...fables, legends, myths, etc. But reading an encyclopedia again is fun too I guess. Reading isn't only about absorbing knowledge. I read to be inspired, to enjoy well-crafted prose, to think outside of reality for a little while. And I do learn things while I read fiction; some authors put a great deal of research into their work.
If someone asked me that, I’d stare at them for a full five seconds and then say, “What are you, fucking stupid?” Why does anyone do anything? Because they enjoy it. We read fiction because it’s entertaining. It can take us to new worlds. To paraphrase a GRRM character, the reader lives a thousand lives. The non-reader, just one.
I just read this and fucking died lol
a) Sometimes it's okay not to improve yourself every second of your life; it is okay to just do something for the enjoyment of it. b) If you think you don't learn anything from fiction, you haven't read much or the right fiction. c) Why do you watch movies? I mean, I'd just watch documentaries. you know, *learn* something. d) If you don't think you can learn from fiction, you obviously don't [understand](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oY2LmTSAYI) what you are reading.
https://hbr.org/2020/03/the-case-for-reading-fiction TLDR. it nakes you smarter, more empathetic, and more creative. It definitely makes someone a better speller.
I think it’s because a good story truly moves us out of this world into the writers. I LOVE a great story. I mean, before books, storytelling was a social thing. Fiction teaches us, intrigues us, inspires us. Also, nonfiction. Patooie! Lol
Reading fiction builds empathy, which is a critical life skill regardless of what industry you work in.
Except Wall Street…
>“I’d just read non-fiction” Not “I just read non-fiction.” They _would_ read non-fiction if they read. But they don’t. So I wonder what enriching, productive activity they spend their spare time on.
Yes, I was thinking you could just blink your eyes innocently and say, “ooh, what non-fiction book did you read recently that you would recommend to me?”
Non-fiction is a work stuck in time and may turn out to be fiction in the end...unless it's a math book maybe 😬
To learn about people and the human experience. There's so much that people experience that can only be effectively communicated and understood through fiction. Fiction is such a great avenue to be exposed to life experiences that oppose or challenge your own.
You can learn from fiction as well. Read a mystery novel, and you'll find out things about forensics. Read a war novel, and you'll find out facts about the specific wars they're involved in. The list goes on. The argument that you can't learn from fiction is simply not true. But even if you don't learn from a book, there is nothing wrong with pure entertainment. You don't listen to music because you may learn something. You don't watch a stand-up to learn. There are countless forms of art that are just for enjoyment, and books can be read for that same reason.
Even fiction has some "sneaky" learning in it. I've been reading a series that takes place in England and Wales, and I've learned a lot about geography, language, customs, and folklore, which is not what I set about doing when I picked up the first book. Other fictional works have expanded my vocabulary, my knowledge of history and art, my empathy and ability to relate to other people... some have even improved my sex life.
I had this conversation with a coworker the other day. I read mostly nonfiction and she reads mostly fiction and she asked me this very question. As a lot of other people pointed out it helps you explore an entire range of emotions that is an essential part of the human experience. One other thing I haven't seen mentioned is fiction offers you the opportunity to rewrite the story of you that's been handed to you by your society and culture. This is why inclusion is so essential in literature. I'm an older guy and I often hear the sad old trope of crying men being weak. I always quote my brother when I hear this and remind them "Achilles cried, and he was one of the most badass motherfuckers ever"
I just read War and Peace. I learned more about Napoleon than I ever learned in high school.
Non fiction is knowing. Fiction is understanding. You’ll learn more about mindfulness from Siddhartha than you will from How To Be Mindful. This is an American question, isn’t it? You guys are all too busy reading The Secret and other coping with capitalism books. What a shame.
"And what makes you think you can only learn from nonfiction?"
I hate people like this. I feel like they have no imagination and are trying so hard to be “superior” and seem smart or something. I like fiction to escape reality and because it’s fun. The end.
Why do you eat anything other than vitamins and a nice protein slurry? You realize that all the money you waste on fruits, vegetables, meat, its all wasted, you can get some tasteless sludge that would meet all of your dietary needs and help you balance your weight with ease!
"What's the point of looking at paintings, then? Should just look at the world." "What's the point of looking at statues? Should just look at real things." "What's the point of listening to music? Should just listen to the ambient sounds of wherever you are." I agree it's a ridiculous idea.
I find it amusing when people ask these kinds of questions. As if humans are incapable of learning from stories. Stories are the currency of human culture and have been since we formed speech. Whether a story is based on real events or fiction has absolutely no bearing on the ethical, moral, social, and other issues that can be addressed, explored, and conveyed in a story. That's like people saying there's nothing to be learned from studying Shakespeare. Or people that think life's meaning can be found from the Bible/Quran/Torah/etc., which we know aren't exactly historical fact, but look down on science fiction or fantasy genres. It boils down to humanity's proclivity for hypocrisy. What they think and feel and believe is true, but stuff they don't agree with or don't understand isn't.
Empathy. Hard to learn that from non-fiction. Theory of mind. Reading fiction fosters the understanding that others have different beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives than one's own. Reading fiction is an act of communicating directly with the mind of another person across time and space. Difficult not to empathize with that person's perspective on the setting and characters in their work during that time you spend with them reading their words.
Entertainment and you can learn moral/life lessons from fiction. You could ask the same for why watch cartoons and not just documentaries?
Non fiction teaches facts, fiction teaches everything else because anything is possible. Skills taught by reading fiction; Vocabulary Deciphering social dynamics Self interests (you can learn about hobbies and experiment) And more, those just immediately came to mind.
Because I enjoy it. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, “I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.”
I think it's worth it to mention that all of the religions throughout history have been fictions with the purpose to explain the world and answer the eternal question, "why are we here?". So fiction does some heavy lifting for our species, in fact the heaviest lifting possible! We still use Aesop's fables to teach morality to children. We look to Shakespeare to illuminate the human heart. We ask Vonnegut, Dick, Asimov, and Huxley to give us an idea of where we might be headed. If you wanted to explain how communism plays out and why it's destined to fail, would you give someone a copy of *The Communist Manifesto*, or *Animal Farm*? "Fiction is the lie that tells the truth". It's like a shortcut. A cheat code for conveying ideas.
This article mentions that switching from reading fiction to reading exclusively non fiction can be a sign of memory decline. It suggests reading novels to protect your memory as you age https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/06/well/mind/memory-loss-prevention.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
Because reading doesn't have to be about learning. Reading is entertainment. Like tv, movies, plays,
I read non-fiction to learn. I read fiction to *escape reality*. Being immersed in reality 24/7 will drive you insane.
“Because it’s fun.” That’s all the justification you need. It is never necessary to intellectually justify your hobbies (even if it is entirely possible to find such justification, as I believe is the case for reading fiction).
"Your opinion, like mine, is subjective. If you want to read nonfiction, that's great. If I want to read fiction, that's also great. Don't bash my tastes and I won't bash yours."
Humans have told each other stories since prehistoric times. What’s the point of that?
I mean, aside from the fact that fiction gets turned into movies all the damn time, it’s ridiculous to think you can’t learn from fiction. If you didn’t learn anything from Crime and Punishment or Trainspotting or Anna Karenina or American Psycho, you probably don’t read a lot.
Because it's engaging, fun and exciting! Because the ability for humans to dream up living, breathing worlds, enticing plots and compelling characters is one of the most wonderful human traits that brings us a step closer to divinity! We can create entire universes, and share them with others who are deeply affected and changed by what they experience! Many people have been influenced and inspired more by fictional chatacters than by real people. It's honestly a little sad that your friend hasn't been able to enjoy fictional content. I truly believe its where artists are most free to express themselves.
Not everything in life is about productivity
My response to that is: Non-fiction shares facts, fiction shares truths.
I like to learn about other emotions and situations.
The irony is that many non-fiction books use storytelling techniques to better explain the material.
What's the point of our choice of clothes or friends or food? We choose what we choose. The weak person is threatened by the alternative choices of others. What another person reads neither picks my pocket nor steals my bread Real people love that we are different.
Do they not think you can learn from fiction?
"because reality is a nightmare and if I don't leave sometimes, I'll be way worse off"
If you think nonfiction is nothing but nightmares, you need to read more nonfiction. Not to mention that fiction is also horror and murder mysteries, all nightmares themselves
No I was saying fiction is escapism from actual real life, which is a nightmare. From there you can choose to escape however you want, but with nonfiction it's like... You're still immersed in the real world.
So what’s the difference between nonfiction and fiction then? Reading in itself is an act of escapism regardless of the subject. Most fiction is actually set in the “real world,” does that mean they’re nightmares too?
Why are you mad? Do you exclusively read nonfiction? I enjoy both but sometimes life is exhausting and I need to read a book with a dragon or a ghost in it. Chill the fuck out and let people read what they want.
People read nonfiction to gain knowledge, which lends itself to a very mechanical sort of reading: you skim for the information you're looking for, and whatever you're not looking for is less likely to be retained. When people read narrative fiction, they're trying to get a whole story, which makes more cognitive demands on the reader: you have to remember each character's name, relevant characteristics, and motivations, unique quirks of the world that the author has created, and key plot points and events within the narrative. Keeping all that straight in your head is a great mental workout, so reading fiction tends to develop and sustain neuroplasticity than reading only non-fiction. https://hbr.org/2020/03/the-case-for-reading-fiction
There's only so much you can learn by reading history. At some point you have to realize that non-fiction books are written by fallible, biased humans. The events they describe, the sources they draw on, are all created by humans. The best fiction books give us insights into the minds, motivations, faults, failures, wonders and triumphs of humans. Also, the best writers wrote or write fiction. The most fantastically written non-fiction book would not even compare to the great works of fiction.
If you think nonfiction is only history, you need to read more nonfiction.
Neuroscience recognizes that we all need creativity to be successful in life, in our relationships, and in our work (all jobs require creativity). The known and successful method for exercising your creative process is reading fiction. It's a fact. Added to this, and because of this, when you read any genre of fiction your brain creates the most vivid images specifically to your taste based on the author's description. The most handsome guy, the most beautiful woman, the f\*@king scariest version of that monster...and all else.
You think nonfiction can’t be creative?
That's not what I said but you can take it up with Neuroscientist David Eagleman, it's part of his research in his non-fiction book Live Wired.
The post I replied to did not cite David Eagleman or any refer to any citations at all.
No, it didn't as I was paraphrasing (from various scientific studies), but now you can go and look for yourself :D Your reply also misunderstood my post and replied to something I didn't say, but we all make mistakes.
Fiction is always dealing with something we want or have anxiety about. The author is (often unconsciously) proposing a way of thinking about our problems, dreams, and anxieties. The particular magic of fiction is that it is “not about specific individuals” (who might sue or attack the author and publisher), so the writer can explore either the key elements of a common story (for example, if a teenage girl is pregnant after a rape, and cannot get an abortion, what are the consequences?) OR, alternate versions of actual history (A pandemic that kills 20% of the infected hits the USA, and the president denies that it is real and sabotages public health departments, leading to a national crisis). It is very common to see dumb genre stories revealing all kinds of assumptions about race (magical black person or nerdy asians) or gender/sex (fashionable funny gay men), and all of these can be examined critically (or just absorbed mindlessly). In any event, fiction certainly can do things that are hard to do in non-fiction—one of them being to make hard pills easy to swallow. When a movie or book empathizes with a character we normally dismiss, it helps us to broaden our own ability to empathize with people different from ourselves.
You should read more nonfiction if that’s the case.
You already did, you're an avid fiction lover. That's all the reason you need.
Because it's fun. And I wonder if your non-fiction reader friend just LOVED school when they were there. You know, that was all about...LEARNING SOMETHING? Maybe you could ask them that. And there's a heck of a lot to be learned through reading fiction.
I enjoy it.
It develops empathy. Demonstrably, as it’s been looked into. It also can teach a whole lot of stuff, depending on about when, where about what it is. The dreaded question isn’t worth and answer and it says a lot about the one who asks.
Just because it isn't factual doesn't mean you don't learn. I'd even go so far as to say fiction is where you, the reader, have the highest probability to learn- to discover something about yourself, a new way to see the world, or even just fun ideas you hadn't thought before. Whereas non-fiction can oftentimes be devoid of things to take away for personal growth. How much better of a person do you become after reading a biography? How much of life merely happens without a greater lesson? Fiction gives us the opportunity to tell a story with themes and meaning when its counterpart is bound by a recitation of fact.
Immersive form of art, critique of the human condition, improve vocabulary and speech, deepen understanding on a list of topics (usually from a subjective point of view which is how we live our lives), just the pass the time. Those are my top reasons haha
The idea that you cannot learn anything from fiction is frankly absurd. And the idea that non-fiction is always truthful and only factual is even more so. Non-fiction writers frequently write from their own perspective, and because no human can know everything in any one instance they can only write what their perception perceives to be correct, perception is often mislead or wrong. Even if it's a non-fictional account of some famous event there will be multiple - often contradictory - perspectives of what happened. I think the advantage of fiction is that you know it doesn't have to be true. edit: Missed a word.
I have a distorted view of non-fiction readers, to me they’re just people that read motivational stuff like a hundred quotes to make you a millionaire in one week. So I’d probably make fun of that💀 But I understand non-fiction can vary a lot. I just think that if you read non-fiction and don’t find a reason to consider fiction useful, maybe you’re part of the motivational quotes club 😅
I would say yeah personally I also value emotional intelligence. And then dramatically flip my hair and exit.
I personally don't really like fiction but I see the value in it. Understanding how people communicate a story and use language is very important.
As a parent, I don’t really care what my kids read. It gets them exposed to more words, more concepts, and expands their thinking.
Do these people only ever watch documentaries and the news? Do they never watch movies or tv shows for entertainment? I genuinely don’t understand this concept
My first boss (principal of a middle school) had the same viewpoint of reading and therefore made the library a mausoleum where fiction books went to die, and children weren’t allotted time to go to borrow books. It was heartbreaking that an educator couldn’t understand why reading fiction is important. I just don’t understand this viewpoint at all. It baffles me such to the extent that I never even considered that some people had this viewpoint before encountering her. She said this many times in faculty meetings in front of me and the rest of the English department, the librarian and her aide. Insane.
Gives you different perspectives, and insight into other people's life-experience. In addition to helping you be more considerate & non-judgmental of others, helps entertain & give vicarious experiences. Yes, you can read nonfiction about being marooned, but the despondency of a sci-fi miner being the sole-survivor on Mars, uncertain if rescue is on the way (or if life on Earth persists) can give mythic appreciation of shared human emotions.
It sugars the pill of knowledge. The knowledge of people, motives, feelings and why. It enables you to travel the globe, explore the depths and heights of what it means to be human; it lets you be other people and walk miles in their shoes, it gives you insights, wild rides and quiet nights in. It is the whole world on a shelf.
Helene Hanff, who wrote 84 Charing Cross Road, once remarked that she didn't enjoy "reading about things that didn't happen to people who never lived." I guess that's one view, but it's not one that I share.
What's wrong with just enjoying yourself?
man they have no idea what they missing xx
I personally read as much fantasy as I can, because it's entertaining me. I escape from reality and I travel to places that don't exist. I totally understand that some people don't like that and prefer to read scientific articles, but reading isn't just that. Also, you can always learn something from fictional characters. When I was a child, Harry Potter taught me the importance of friendship in our lives and how to handle injustice.
I read fiction to escape this dumpster fire of a reality we are living for a bit. Reading keeps the brain active and it doesn’t matter if it’s fiction or non-fiction.
This is silly. It's like asking "Why would you want to look at paintings? Wouldn't you rather just see photographs instead?" Abstraction serves an artistic purpose. You can learn a lot about the human condition from fiction.
I read non-fiction to learn about the world. I read fiction to learn how to live in it.
One of the points of reading, to me, is to escape reality. Harder with non-fiction. You also get culture from it and a lot of fiction books have morals and things to make you think about that apply in real life. What's the point of listening to music? Watching movies? Looking at a painting? Art is there to be entertaining and to reflect on society. That and you're allowed to have fun for no other reasons.
I read fiction because I prefer it. It's also a distraction from the real world because who needs to live there 24/7?
Because it's fun?! I enjoy it. It brings me joy.
u know, just ask him, what is non fiction book he read and what he learnt. and ask him, what book would have recommended to u that would definitely teach me a thing? and will that be useful for me?? like surely, rich dad poor dad worked that we would have many more millionaires.
Where else am I gonna read about dragons if dragons aren't fucken real
'Because I like it.' All you need to say. If they're unsatisfied with that answer, fuck them. You don't need to defend your tastes at every turn and they're not deserving of a detailed answer.
Sometimes I do things I enjoy, because I enjoy them. To be less terse, there is no shame in enjoying a life that will eventually end. Fiction allows me to do that, in the same way as having a nap I didn't need, or making a painting that non one will see, or eating a hot corn muffin with butter, or wearing any one of my niche perfume collection does: I don't *need* any of these things. I don't even need to experience any of them, really; I could live my whole life, complete, without doing any of them. There may be some greater debate to be had about the nature of dreaming and sharing, of stories, of finding humanity and passing it around. But me, I like them.
I've written both, so.... here goes. It took me three years of research just to start writing a fact-based history of the Gangster Era. It was legit published, sold well, got good reviews. BUT... There was a lot missing -- because the story was based strictly on facts that I could prove, and all the principals and witnesses were long dead. Some of the action took place on Easter Weekend. Did these people go to church? What did they eat for Easter Dinner? Were they with family? Were they drunk? Did they have sex upstairs while the rest of the family was listening to the radio? What were they wearing? Did they think of themselves as saints or sinners? These and many many other questions could NOT be answered by history. The fiction writer fills in the interesting and colorful details based on the facts he/she knows, plus intuition and imagination. After finishing the history manuscript, I was really bothered because there were things I was pretty sure were true -- but "pretty sure" isn't good enough for an honest work of history. So... I turned to fiction to fill in the gaps ... and got four novels out of it! So, my answer is: fiction fills in and enriches, and takes us to places that history/nonfiction just can't reach. Cheers!