Just like a coffee junkie will never understand how I function on a daily basis without coffeine, a bookworm has a hard time dealing with people who don’t regularly read. Why are these differences? Is it any good for society at large to have well-read members?
I see time and time again how patients with the same disease and same income evolve differently according to their reading habits – which largely determine their formal education as well.
Reading is a huge step – it’s a courageous act of stepping out of your own boundaries. Through reading you learn how other people solved problems and your brain will get accustomed to other ways of thinking.
Inhibitions can act both ways.
Girls are generally discouraged from discovering the world with all their senses – from participation in sports to building things – and given their natural curiosity and intellect which need an outlet – that may explain their large numbers in libraries everywhere.
On the other hand, being discouraged by the peers at an earlier stage from exploration, may set one accustomed with their current life and not seeking anything new.
Beyond the inner curiosity – inhibited or not – there is another reason for which people do not regularly read – the lack of resources – which can be real or perceived.
This has to do mainly with the use of English – I see these differences all the time in my own country as people with no or subpar knowledge of English limit their access to what the publishing world has to offer them – a lot more than native English speakers who speak no other foreign language.
Lastly, you have to be very good at something in order to enjoy it so more reading is what it takes to achieve enough proficiency to read for fun in your free time.
