Does Reading Make You a Better Person?

After reading the article, “Does Reading Make You a Better Person: How Fiction Relates to Our Mortality” by Cody Delistraty, I came to the conclusion that I do not agree with it. I do understand some of the points he brings up. For example, he says that when you read, you learn about every aspect going on in the characters’ lives. As you read, you do know everything going on for the most part. His theory was that because you read this, you happen to be more in touch with it so you can think that way about people in real life as well. I believe that is true to an extent, but I do not believe that anyone who reads will automatically think that way. For the most part, reading is something people do in their spare time, a hobby. It is not particularly a “lifestyle”, so I do not think people are going to take what they read in their books and apply it to life and how they look at the world. For some people this may be true, but I know that as I read, I read to enjoy it. I finish a book and know that it is fiction, therefore it is not real. Some books have very real scenarios that one may be able to apply to life, or “live by”, but it is after all fiction for a reason.

It is a very interesting concept, and the study shows that reading may make someone a better person, but I do not believe it is accurate for majority of people who read.