Reading The Bible might make you a better person. 50 Shades or the Washington Post, maybe not as much.
But reading "should" make you a better writer. If that helps at all.
Jeff
I don't actually think that reading a text of religious or moral precepts would necessarily make you a better person. A person can read the Bible, or any other text that might vaguely (or not so vaguely) outline a moral system, till they're blue in the face, and easily slot in those stories and lessons into a thoroughly garbage worldview.
What matters in most cases, I think, is variety. Exposure to multitudes of thoughts, actions, beliefs, histories, and stories. Nonfiction and fiction both
I don't know what books are on the list mentioned in the first post, but I highly doubt that reading any particular book, or even a limited set of books, would definitively cause personal betterment, so much as a whole lot of varied books/stories
Of course, it's always possible for a single book or whathaveyou to change someone's life. I'm sure it does happen. I'm just not convinced it's going to be one book or story more than another that's likely to do that
We’re considering the inherently subjective question of whether reading can make someone a better person. It’s likely that as far as generalizations go, and in the most basic conditions one would think yes. But it’s only when you start peeling that onion and consider the different layers, and the myriad of different onions that we start qualifying generalities with the precursor statement of:
”It depends...”
Well, if the question is *can* it make you a better person, then the answer would be yes, I think
Possibility is a much broader question than certainty.
Another thing that's kind of sticking in my mind about this whole concept is whether the act of reading in and of itself can "make you a better person"...
For me, the act itself does not. It takes (among others):
- The reader being receptive toward new thoughts and ideas (If you were to read the 95 theses of Martin Luther, but were an atheist - would that really make you any better?)
- The reader being actively engaged in taking the ideas and considering their preconceived notions, consider adapting themselves to incorporate either the ideas presented.
- The reader being actively engaged in taking the ideas and specifically saying "No, these are not part of what my world view will allow for, because of A, B, and C (or whatever)
- The reader being actively engaged to the point that they will remember the content of what they are reading to at least some degree.
I kind of wonder about this active engagement and remembering thing
I think the construction of our beliefs and worldviews is more subtle than that, and extends far beyond the single actions and engagements than the ones we can consciously remember. Our selves and minds as they are today are composed of countless tiny exposures to this or that thing, a heaping pile of microscopic moments we may not even be able to see. I can't remember every piece of evidence, every fact I learned, every conversation I had, that led me to believe -- or not believe -- the things I do (or don't) right now, or all the individual events or non-events that led to my current habits. I remember the conclusions of those processes, but not every tiny step along the way; nor was I always aware of what I was learning, unlearning, deepening my ignorance of, or training myself to think and do.
In other words, I don't think I can pick out a single book, article, documentary, movie, television show, conversation with another person, tweet, internet post, experience, picture, or piece of art that changed me. It's all of them, interacting together with everything that came before, little molecules in a tiny Red Spot-type neverending storm in my head where everything is kinda ill-defined anyway. For the most part, I don't know which ones made me better, worse, or had no effect. And of course it's debatable whether I am "better," though I like to think I'm slightly less of a shitgarnish than I was a decade or more ago
...Anyway, it's an interesting conversation
Though I don't think I'm saying much that's new here--overall I agree with others who point out that exposure to a multitude of stories can deepen empathy, and those who say it won't necessarily do so, either