Books have stood the test of time. Their form may have changed from engraved stone tablets to scrolls and then to pages fitted between two leather/cloth-wrapped boards, but people love books.
Have you ever wondered why it is that watching too many movies or playing too many video games gives you a headache and drains your ambition to go out and do things? The well-used phrase 'couch potato' is well put.
I believe that the primary difference between reading a book and watching a movie is the sort of task your brain is performing. If you watch a movie (particularly one you have already seen) your brain is tuned to relaxation, brainless activity. But if you pour over a book you learn new things and must rove your eyes over the pages instead of staring at a screen.
It has been scientifically proven that people who exercise their brain through learning and creativity live longer, healthier lives. I remember reading a news article once on a group of nuns in their 90's who regularly knitted, sewed, and read. Their eyes were healthy and their minds sharp . . . I wonder what would happen if nursing homes dispensed with television sets and encouraged reading. I am certain alzheimers patients would dimish greatly and, in fact, perhaps that is why memory loss is so prevelent today whereas it was not seventy years ago.
Well, that's all, I guess, that I had to say. I need to get cracking on my fiction writing and novel edits....
1 comment:
I definitely agree. Reading a book is always so much more rewarding than watching a movie or spending an hour on the computer. I know that when I spend too much time on the computer my eyes start to hurt and I start to get a headache that goes away if I go and do something else. However, that never happens when I read a book or doing something else that's productive.
~The Fair Maiden~
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