Maybe George R.R. Martin has trouble keeping his characters alive, but he did get something right. Like many authors, Martin’s “Game of Thrones” series transports its readers into a different time, takes us on adventures and lets us live the vast range of human experiences without actually leaving the comfort of our couch. In fact, according to both 2006 and 2009 studies conducted by Raymond Mar, psychologist at York University in Canada, and Keith Oatley, professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, fiction readers have the highest capabilities of empathy and “theory of mind,” which means readers are most capable of holding opinions and interests apart from their own. In other words, they are more capable of being open-minded.
Readers don’t just read words on a page; they breathe them. They live a thousand lives before they die and with each book they add to their repertoire another set of human experiences to pull from. It’s no wonder readers tend to be wiser than their years. The fastest and most efficient way to build a vocabulary is to read a book. A story gives you context, whereas a vocabulary list in language class requires rote memorization. A story takes you to far off places and introduces you to a plethora of people from all over the world (real and imaginary). Whether you read fiction, non-fiction, documentary or autobiography, the experiences have at least this one thing in common: you are learning. Your mind is like a sponge and it soaks up these experiences and stores them for later use.
Even though I have personally never been in a romantic relationship, I can give you details on what being in one is like. I could recount the feeling of falling in love, getting the guy and even the deterioration of the relationship just from the hundreds of characters I've come to know and love in my books. I've laughed and cried with characters I've connected with. I've lived through stories from the male perspective, the female perspective and even from the perspective of animals (which opens up a whole other range of emotions). As someone who has been religiously reading since early grade school, I can assure you it has done nothing but enrich my life.
Reading didn't just help me academically, but has made me a more well-rounded and soulful person. With each book I read I become for knowledgeable and wiser about the world. For example, books like "My Sister's Keeper" and "Me Before You" may be hard stories to read, but they make you consider different sides of very controversial issues. By the end of the stories, I came out more informed and understanding of the situation. In case you aren't familiar with these two stories, one deals with the controversy behind designer babies and the other with assisted suicide. Stories such as these force you to open your eyes and your mind beyond your own world.
Because I have access to such a full range of human experiences and emotions, I'm a great listener and am incredibly open-minded but am firmly grounded in my own beliefs. I feel other people's emotions quite easily and when faced with a problem, can mentally pull a book from my bookshelf and find a solution. Can't find the answer? Well then, it's time to read another book.
