“The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, the more places you’ll

go.” — Dr. Seuss

Many of you already know that I spend a considerable amount of my time reading and writing. Honestly,
it is one of the easiest things to procrastinate to.

1. It Lets You Read Other People’s Thoughts

One of the greatest joys of reading is that we can literally become another person whom we have never
met, possibly admire, for an extended amount of time.

When we read, we are reading the thoughts of other people.

I find that to be one of the true wonders of reading.

2. The Conversations You Have Become Better & More Interesting

A good friend of mine is leaving my hometown in a couple of weeks. She is also my coworker.

We’ve been having some of our last moments together. One of the things she told me why she values
our relationship is that I read a lot and that because of that we tend to talk about interesting things.

As I thought about that gracious compliment I realized that people that read tend to be my better
friends.

They are intriguing, educated, skeptical, and focused. When they talk, people quiet down, because they
know that someone who has taken the time to practice the skill of knowledge, will be better at
expressing the truth.
People that read are respected, because of their speech.

3. The Only Goal of An Education is to be Well-Read

“Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.” — G. K.
Chesterton

Educate yourself so that you can challenge preconceived notions. One of the best ways to do that is to
read the most you can and to be sincerely interested.

I was raised in a Christian environment, I thought I was skeptical of my faith when I was growing up.
When in reality I never really read anything by an Atheist. I only read Christians quoting Atheists to
disprove what they said, or Christians responding to claims that Atheists made against them.

The moment I challenged my beliefs by reading Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, A. C. Grayling, P. Watson,
Bertrand Russell, David Hume, James Joyce, Albert Camus, Hemingway, and others, I realized that that
the Atheist world is vast and the arguments are well-formulated.

I needed to read in order to be challenged. Watching video was not enough.

Apart from these personal reasons I read, I’ve collected research from articles that also display the
benefits to reading:

1. Reading Prevents Memory Loss

A study which included almost 300 participants who died at an average age of 89 discovered that those
that were engaging in mental activities such as reading experienced slower memory decline than those
patients that did not read.
The rate of decline with those that did not train their minds was 48% faster than those who did
(http://www.neurology.org/content/81/4/314).

2. Reading Prevents Depression

Another study from the PLOS journal showed that self-help books can help prevent depression. Since
depression causes hopelessness people stop believing in the capability of change, self-help books boost
the parts of the brain that are associated with happiness, rather focusing on that which is ahead and
your ambitions (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0052735).

3. Reading Relaxes You

At the University of Sussex a study reported that reading can relax you more than listening to your
favorite tunes, going for a walk, or even enjoying a cup of coffee/tea.

This is a hard one to believe, honestly. I love my coffee. And I love my tea. Books are great as well. But
let’s be honest. You probably feel me on this one. Don’t be telling me how I should feel about my tea
time (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/5070874/Reading-can-help-reduce-stress.html).

4. Reading Builds a Critical Mind

The more you read the more information you add into your brain. This information proves helpful in dire
circumstances when you need to make last minute decisions, or decide between the lesser of two evils
for president.

5. Reading is a Literal Workout For the Brain

Unlike watching TV or listening to the radio, reading stimulates your brain to be able to focus on tasks
better. That is what you are training your mind to do the more you read, because the mind is forced to
focus again & again from page to page on new information.

Ken Pugh, PhD, and the president and director of research of Haskins Laboratories told Oprah magazine
that:

“[P]arts of the brain that have evolved for other functions — such as vision, language, and associative
learning — connect in a specific neural circuit for reading, which is very
challenging.”(https://www.rd.com/culture/benefits-of-reading/)

Reading spurs your brain to think and concentrate.

Reading books is one of the best habits one can develop.

Books have great have a great significance in humans life.

Reading books is one of the best habits one can develop.

Books have great have a great significance in humans life.

a) Books add knowledge: Books are bought mainly for this purpose. They are the best mode of
imparting education since school days for any one of us. Though books are found on many topics, the
number of books found on education-related topics like science, maths, social, etc. occupy major share.
Even one can know regarding their health and what doctors might prescribe by books
on pharmacotherapy.

Books on other topics also impart knowledge of some sort or other. But they are prime means to give
knowledge. So many advice to make a reading hobby.

b) Enhances imagination power: Have you ever noticed reading a novel or a storybook.
You will find that your mind has framed pictures of what you read. Supposing the novel you were reading
describes a desert or sea related incidents. Automatically your mind frames the images related to them.
This is possible even if you have never seen a sea or dessert before. But due to the description in the
storyline, the images are formed. Thus reading can enhance imagination capacity. But where can this be
useful? Imagination can be useful for those in research and technology-related fields. Even it would be
good for students reading physics, chemistry and maths as they need imagination skills to understand.

c) Helps you set your mood: This is an area which only books can accomplish without the need for
counseling. These books are of next high selling grade. They help set the mood of the reader. Examples
include

1. Self-help books; Go through the books like “Rich Dad Poor Dad, Magic of Thinking Big, 7 Habits of
Successful People, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Tough times never last but tough people
do, etc.”.

These are the books for mental stimulation and encouragement. They teach on aspects like how to be
successful in one’s life, how to face hardships etc.

Reading these books minimizes negative thoughts, reduce your stress levels. Regular reading helps the
reader build optimism and approach life with a positive attitude.

So these books help to keep the mood and mind on a positive note. These books contribute to the
health benefits of reading.

2. Spiritual books; These books are available in different religions. While some are written by well versed
holy men. They give principles for peaceful living.

They can impart peace of mind to the reader besides high-end knowledge or wisdom — Ex; The Bible,
The Bhagawad Geeta, An autobiography of a yogi, etc.

The specialty of the above types of books is a desire to read repeatedly. Though they are read previously,
re-reading gives more better insights and happiness.

Thus they can be helpful books for people in times of disappointments, in longing for guidance, etc.

3. Novels: These books contain many aspects like romantic, thrill, fiction, etc..in course of reading. As
long as one studies non stop, his mind is fixed up as per the novel. They can be knowledge of giving and
entertaining also. They are the right way to pass holidays and pass the time.

d) Improves vocabulary and grammar:

All the books, publications are screened well for grammar, vocabulary, spelling mistakes, etc. by the
publishers. So they can be quite perfect in terms of usage of language, grammar, words, etc.

Reading them helps the reader improve his vocabulary in communication and writing. Since one comes
across new words, phrases, etc. The reader gets accustomed to using them in his daily language.
Even the sentence formation, use of suitable words for expressing some view will be fine-tuned.

e) Enhance writing & speaking skills: It is quite obvious that one who is an avid reader can speak and
write a lot. If given a chance he can give a speech or write a column out of his bookish knowledge.
Reading gives confidence to the person due to enhanced knowledge. So his speaking and writing
skills are improved by reading books.

f) Best friends of loneliness: In times of loneliness, books are the best resort to void off the lonely feeling.
Hence even prisoners like to spend time reading books.

g) Gives you knowledge for teaching, social speaking, etc.

If one reads suitable books, he gets hints and additional points to include in his seminar or oral
presentation. A teacher well prepared will give better lecture than on who is not. This preparation mostly
includes subject related books.

h) Company during travel: Books are the best for pass time. They also impart knowledge and ideas
besides a good time pass like in tours, trips or even daily travel to school.

i) Helps you fall asleep: This is a well-known fact and experience for many. Book reading is a good sleep
inducer. As the reading tires the brain, the persons doze of while still book in hand.

j) Helps you improve concentration: This is a trick mentioned in the book “Who will cry when you
die.” While reading a page in the book, mark the word at which you lost attention and again resume to
cover with longer attention. On repetition, the number of words covered with attention will improve.

So how does reading help your brain? By improving knowledge, imagination, comprehension, etc.