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/lit/ - Literature

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1804268 No.1804268 [Reply] [Original]

/lit/izens this isn't technically directly /lit/ related but still kind of is.

Today I got into a rather tumultuous argument with a co-worker, who believes reading a lot doesn't make you any smarter or more successful. I politely disagreed.

I pose to you this question: Do you believe reading, regularly, or in large volumes, has something to do with how smart or successful a person is (in general, I realise there are exceptions to this)?

When you answer, also post.

Age:
Occupation / Study:
Average Income:
How often / much you read:

I'll start.

Age: 25
Occupation: State Executive
Avg Salary: $100 - 150k p.a. + benefits
Reading: I read every day, as much as I can, as often as possible.

Your turn.

>> No.1804273

PS. Please don't turn this into a bragging, blow wind up eachothers ass with exaggerated figures type post. I genuinely am interested to see whether my hypothesis is generally correct.

>> No.1804293

No. Reading more makes you better at reading. Doing brain puzzles doesn't make you smarter, they make you better at doing brain puzzles.

My information is irrelevant, and it seems like you just wanted to show off/exaggerate your yearly salary. Several kinds of fuck you.

>> No.1804296

reading has nothing to do with success.

it may increase your intelligence if you're reading cerebral and engaging books, and not stupid kiddie shit.

>> No.1804323

Yes, reading makes you more intelligent, if you're reading intelligent books.
It does not make you more successful. While it might help, success is determined by other things.

>> No.1804324

Age: 17
Occupation / Study: gap year (i do nothing)
Average Income: i mooch of my family
How often / much you read: 6-8 books a month

>> No.1804325

i would think the only correlation between intelligence and avid reading would be that a person involved with academia, basically anyone willing to invest in college or even AP classes, would be more inclined find reading enjoyable.

>> No.1804329

>>1804325
Whoops
Occupation / Study: Engineering Student
Average Income: $9/hr, varying
How often / much you read: About 20% of all of my free time

>> No.1804358

Reading (depending on the level and subject matter), increases one's vocabulary and command of language.

If you're reading books with heavy themes for pleasure, you're already not-an-idiot, so I don't see how they're improving your intelligence, other than the fact that they may be introducing you to a new concept or altering a current way of thinking.

Also, wtf is a state executive and how do I get that job???

>> No.1804374

Reading might make you more knowledgeable, but in regards to intelligence... I think it's an important part of it, but it can only do so much. We have bookworms who waste away their days reading and are not very "successful" or even smart, in one way or another. Other experiences will help shape the way people think and in turn I think that more directly affects intelligence. This can be emulated and conveyed through books, yes, but the act of reading itself can be shackling if done to any great degree. As with all things, moderation.

To this end you're both right in what you were probably trying to say to each other.

>> No.1804843

>Do you believe reading, regularly, or in large volumes, has something to do with how smart or successful a person is (in general, I realise there are exceptions to this)?
Yes. But there are definitely exceptions.

>Age:
16
>Occupation / Study:
High school student.
>Average Income:
$0..no allowance.
>How often / much you read:
I'm never reading less than two books at a time. Learned to read when I was four, haven't stopped since. Other kids text when they're waiting for the subway, I read.

>> No.1804844

Age: 16
Occupation / Study: Student
Average Income: £0
How often / much you read: Two books a month.

>> No.1804856

Age: 20
Occupation: None, ever
Avg Salary: $0
Reading: Read 6+ hours a day, mainly literary fiction.

I'm a useless retard who will probably commit suicide within the decade.

>> No.1804864

>>1804856
Why wait for probably?

>> No.1804871

Age:22
Occupation / Study: Usher at a movie theater (with a BS in Civil Engineering ~economyyyy~)
Average Income: min wage all day errry day
How often / much you read: 1 hr+ a day

>> No.1804877

Age: 37
Occupation: Software developer
Salary: 92,000 USD
Reading: Average of about an hour a day

I don't think reading per se leads to success or improves intelligence. A reader who seeks either of these things via reading, and does so diligently, will probably gain a lot from it. On the other hand, I don't know very many intelligent people who don't read at least a fair amount. (Financially) successful people are a dime a dozen, though. Fuck those robots.

>> No.1804888

Age: 19
Occupation / Study: ft bum
Average Income: 0
How often / much you read: Pretty much everyday. Varies depending on the book, anything from 3 books a week to one book every three weeks.

I think reading the right stuff can make you smarter but definitely not more successful.

>> No.1804907

Age: 19
Occupation: Currently a shoe salesman
Study: Linguistics Major, Journalism Minor.
Average Income: $9/hour at Shoe Store.
How often / much you read: Used to read a lot more. Now I find I don't have the attention span for it, which is something about myself that I detest. I read a book occasionally here and there, but it's hard to find so much as a short story that will hold my attention long enough to finish it.

I think that reading in general certainly develops knowledge in certain areas in your brain. It teaches you things, and you learn from it. Isn't that very definition of an activity which holds some kind of positive intellectual outcome? That being said, I don't think success has anything to do with it, some people just have bad luck, and others either just know how to do things how others want them to do it, or have very good luck.

Smart... eh. That's debatable. I do think that on some level books have something to teach us. But knowledge does not necessarily determine how smart you are, though it is a factor, I think.

>> No.1804909

No.

Age: 22
Occupation / Study: English Education
Average Income: $0 (It would actually be a negative with all the debt I'm in)
How often / much you read: Usually for several hours every day. I'd say 2-3 on average.

>> No.1804911

Age: 22
Occupation / Study: History(Deal with it)
Average Income: like 14.95 an hour
How often / much you read: Daily

>> No.1805632

Age: 28
Occupation: Peasant
Income: $20,000/yr
Reading: Books, an hour or two a day. Total( including internet, 5-6 hrs/day)

>> No.1805642

Age: 23
Occupation / Study: Finishing up a Masters in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry
Average Income: £18000 p/a
How often / much you read: Every single day, usually for at least two hours, but if I'm not busy potentially up to 8.

I don't believe it has any effect on success, but often it does on intelligence.

>> No.1805658
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1805658

>>1804907
>Occupation: Currently a shoe salesman
Study: Linguistics Major, Journalism Minor.

>mfw

>> No.1805679

No
Age - 16
Occupation - Pseudo Garbage man at local bar
Income - $9.25 an hour
Reading - At the very least, a half hour a night.

High school, bitchezzzz

>> No.1805681

OP, I think you are either a liar, a troll, or very disconnected from the 4chan populace and your idea what the average person on 4chan and /lit/ is like.

Anyway

Age: 24
Occupation: None
Average Income: $0
Reading: Several hours a day to not much.

>> No.1805684

>Today I got into a rather tumultuous argument with a co-worker, who believes reading a lot doesn't make you any smarter or more successful.

In corporate world being a mindless zombie earns the bucks, not thinking for yourself. So yeah hes right.

>> No.1805694

Just passing by, but I'll fill this out.
> Age: 23
> Occupation / Study: Funemployed student / majoring in Electrical engineering
Average Income: broke
How often / much you read: about 100 pages daily

>> No.1805698

No. There are different types of knowledge. So we read, discuss philosophy and such, but for me personally I know next to fuck all about cars, engineering, sport and many other topics. There are just different types of knowledge.

Age: 24

Occupation / Study: Shit kicking job in a supermarket. Studying TESOL, going to Uni next year.

Average Income: $500 a week, sometimes more sometimes less

How often / much you read: 2-5 hours a day, depending.

>> No.1805701

Age:22
Occupation / Study: Playwright / BA in English Literature
Average Income: No idea
How often / much you read: 2 hours a day

>> No.1805712

Yes.

Age: 47
Occupation / Study: Freelance editor/writer.
Average Income: $100/hour
How often / much you read: 10 hours per day

>> No.1805713

Age: 21
Occupation / Study: Full time Belmont University Music Business student w/ 3.2 gpa
Average Income: $250 parental allowance with $100-200 in adderall profits.
How often / much you read: try to read a book every month or two. quality > quantity

>> No.1805718

Age:20
Occupation / Study:BS Physics
Average Income: -12000 (Got financial aid, but still paying out of pocket.
How often / much you read: 1 or 2 books a week. Less if engaged in extremely difficult reading or reading occupationally related books

As to your question, reading has been shown to increase a persons ability to process information, not really much else. This doesn't make you inherently more intellegent; however, it does allow you to process the information unfamiliar to you at a much faster rate.

>> No.1805727

Yes and no. It's the correlation/causation thing.
It certainly depends on what is being read.

Age:22
Occupation / Study:Supervisor at Starbucks/not in school
Average Income:Not enough.
How often / much you read:As soon as I finish one book I start the next. Currently reading House of Leaves.

>> No.1805731

>>1804268

"Smart" is too relative to be of any use. Reading certainly broadens the mind; opening one to new ideas and new perspectives. It also, from a biochemical standpoint, does help the brain become better at retaining and processing information.

"Success" is also nebulous. Will more reading make you richer? Probably not; I though don't consider that success. Will reading allow to understand more fully the human condition, and in so doing your own place in your own world? Yes; and to me that is part of "success".

Age: 25
Occupation / Study: Freelance Writer; BS Political Science, BS International Affairs
Average Income: $10,000
How often / much you read: 7-10 books per week.

>> No.1805732

There are numerous types of intelligence. But, I think knowing a person on a profound level comes best from reading. At least, personally, I feel a real connection with the writer when I read a real brilliant bit of literature. I guess brilliant music or art could bring on such a feeling, but there's more clarity when you're working off prose. Financial success depends on who you know and sheer luck moreso than how much you read.

Age: 27
Occupation / Study: Secondary teacher / English Grad student
Average Income: 45-50k before taxes
Reading: 20-30 books a year. Depends on my workload at the time. Barely have a free minute during the majority of the year.

>> No.1805735

Age: 16
Occupation / Study: High School
Average Income: $0
How often / much you read: 3+ hours a day

I've always thought of reading as a shortcut to intelligence. Some people are born pretty damn smart. Those of us who aren't can read to fill in the knowledge gaps.

>> No.1805748

Intelligence is far more about WHAT you read than how much. You're going to learn a lot more reading a dictionary for 5 minutes than a mindless celebrity blog for 5 hours. It also depends on how much you retain after reading.

Literacy is a great booster for success but they aren't prerequisites. Joan d'arc was illiterate but extremely successful in leading an army.

Age: 21
Occupation / Study: Varies part-time jobs
Average Income: $6-$7k
How often / much you read: Not as much as I used to back in school :(

>> No.1805760

my dad didn't read much, and he earns millions per year, anyway, he travelled a lot and know how to do anything.
so, no.


Age:17
Occupation / Study:student?
Average Income: leecher
How often / much you read: 3/4 books per month

>> No.1805780

Reported.