Reading Boosts Intelligence
It is a dark and stormy night, the thunder roars in anger and the rain beats down on your window. You sit on a makeshift blanket chair as you flip through page after page of a book you randomly pulled off your library's shelf. Lost in a fictional world, you live the life of a pirate who strives to find some treasure. You live the life of a young girl running from her home life to also find the treasure. You live the life of the man who hid the treasure. All in one book. Only when sleep creeps up upon you and pulls you deep into his clutches do you stop reading.
Reading is something many people enjoy; from reading fiction and fantasy to non-fiction and psychology. Some people read for fun, while others read purely for knowledge. But no matter what genre you read, you will always gain some sort of knowledge. What I mean is that you are always reading from the perspective of the author because no matter who the main character in a book is or what the book is about, there is always part of the author in their writing.
Through reading the many different perspectives in books, readers begin to understand the different mindsets of different people, causing them to become well immersed in the emotions of others. Of course, this also needs actual human communication, but reading can set a path for you in that direction.
Furthermore, reading expands vocabulary and a better understanding of whatever language you are reading in. This leads to good writing skills since you read the writing of very skilled and experienced writers, the good writing skills will eventually rub off on you. Reading also expands your communication skills, since you would be open to a lot of good grammar and sentence structure (If you read the right books).
Another thing that reading helps with a lot is the understanding of the different cultures and parts of the world without you even having to leave your bed. You could find so much information about cultures and parts of the world that are not just purely knowledge. There are many fictional books that have elements of these cultures and parts of the world in an entertaining story that does not just pile fact after fact on you. For example, The Poppy War by R.F Kuang is a world fantasy with many elements of old Chinese history, military strategy and mythology. Kuang used her amazing writing skills and knowledge to stir up a remarkable, unforgettable story of war, history and immorality at the young age of 19. This is only one of many examples of books that would enlighten you about history through an entertaining story.
Lastly, reading is a very healthy option for entertainment. Unless you decide to read in dim light and risk your eyesight declining, or you only read very depressing Russian literature philosophy and risk your mental health declining, reading would give you some sort of entertainment without any health issues like electronics would (Well, unless you're reading a book on an electronic).
Read while you still have time, and live a thousand lives in one lifetime. Find the secrets of the world between the words on a page, and sneak a peek into a completely different person's mind. Expand your writing skills, and learn to speak better. Read for entertainment or read for knowledge, but in the end, just read.
Opinion by Arob Altower