You should read books, because, in a matter of a couple of books, you can gain thousands of years of reference experience from the greatest minds that ever existed.
Books are an excellent medium for gaining knowledge. Not the only ones of course but they are definitely one of the best. It’s because reading increases knowledge retention as it makes your brain work creatively to visualize what you are reading. Books are also known to be exhaustive when it comes to their content.
When someone publishes a book, they know it’s forever and not like a social media post that disappears from people’s feeds after 21 minutes.
The attention to detail and the commitment to accuracy are nearly unparalleled.
Most online creators speak from what they have learned from books. Of course, topped with their own experience and understanding but no one was born with that knowledge and the internet is not a self-generating medium. To people who don’t read it sounds like new information. In terms of content, it’s barely a shadow of the content in a book. Haven’t you heard, that a particular movie was just a shadow of its book when it comes to the story and its delivery?
With books, you also understand that you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You understand that you don't have to learn how to make fire again. You can just start evolving from the point where our ancestors left.
As I wrote in my review of the biography of Leonardo Da Vinci, “When you know the wheel exists, then you can go invent the engine." What’s the point of committing the same mistakes that took place ages ago? Just because you started from scratch you can’t claim you have invented the wheel; you objectively just wasted your time.”
This also applies to your understanding of life itself. Billions of people before you have crossed a certain bridge of understanding about life, why would you want to disregard their lessons?
Physical evolution for humans might be done but there’s no upper ceiling for the mental, emotional, and spiritual evolution of humans and therefore it’s best orchestrated as a collective effort.
So, you should read books because you don't have time to commit all the mistakes in the world, you also don't have time to figure out what works with every new mistake you commit.
That's why read. Because reading will give you the required perspective on something, not necessarily something you agree with, but something on which you can think upon. Opening up a new dimension in your personal perspective. You start seeing and analyzing things differently.
By reading, the vision you will develop about our world will be a rewarding one and you will feel more at home.
It will also give you more words, expressions, language, idioms, and structure to speak your mind clearly and express yourself more wholesomely.
Also, how can I not mention the amazing and fulfilling experience that reading a great book is? You won't know it until you read one. And btw no, it doesn’t matter whether you read a digital or a physical copy. In some sense, it does, specifically in terms of your senses of touch and smell but it’s not extremely consequential.
As I am urging you to read, I must tell you which books to read.
May it be fiction or non-fiction, each book has a world in it and the years of thought and experience of the author into it.
Therefore, it is very important to consider from whose thoughts and experiences we are reading. The Author I mean.
A great author will raise the right questions, answer what is necessary, and arouse curiosity in you to seek further.
While fiction is a great medium to learn about things as well or at least a great medium to instill curiosity and passion in you about our living world, it will not always answer your questions on life or give you practical knowledge about a certain subject. For that, you will have to read books from subject matter experts and entirely from the non-fiction genre.
May it be healthcare, sustainability, art, psychology, personal and professional development, etc.
Autobiographies and biographies are great for picking up the life experiences of the greatest people that ever existed.
A lot of people that complain about getting bored while reading books, say so because they pick up a fiction book that they don’t see adding any value to their life but notice adding extra work.
The work of imagination and reading.
Why would someone invest their time in a fictional story like that if they can just watch a show fully produced for them which needs no work?
So, if you are someone who is new to reading then pick up something non-fiction that you think will help you get better in life.
If you want in-depth knowledge about something, grab a book.
Acquire knowledge, apply it practically, and find your own wisdom through your actions, and that right there is the best strategy for growth.
With experience, you will develop a better understanding of the knowledge you have gained but as Davinci Said "without knowledge first, you will be like a ship without a compass", drifting in the ocean mindlessly to nowhere in particular and learning about just the basic survival things. While with a compass you could have landed on new shores and explored new worlds.
Gaining knowledge first speeds up your learning process because it directs you in the right direction. You should definitely act on the knowledge gained, however. It's a whole cycle of gaining wisdom and expertise, and books are a big part of the wheel.
Conclusion
The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.
~Rene Descartes
The book you don’t read won’t help.
–Jim Rohn
Great books help you understand, and they help you feel understood.
–John Green
A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it.
–Edward P. Morgan
A thousand years of reference experience can be gained within a matter of few books.
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