To some degree you’re right, reading doesn’t make you intelligent in and of itself, but I do think constantly reading like that does make you to some degree smarter. Like even if you’re reading slop, you’re probably smarter than if you had been reading nothing.
It has also been proven that reading makes you more empathetic, because you are actively putting yourself in the character’s headspace.
I don’t think that it’s been proven that reading makes you more empathetic, I think that there has been a correlation established between those who exhibit empathy and enjoying fiction (or at least narratives where you adopt another perspective).
I think it would be almost impossible to prove that reading improves empathy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the part of your brain responsible for empathy gets a workout when reading fiction.
True, though I don’t hold with the theory that reading automatically makes you smarter — Dan Brown exists.
To some degree you’re right, reading doesn’t make you intelligent in and of itself, but I do think constantly reading like that does make you to some degree smarter. Like even if you’re reading slop, you’re probably smarter than if you had been reading nothing.
It has also been proven that reading makes you more empathetic, because you are actively putting yourself in the character’s headspace.
I don’t think that it’s been proven that reading makes you more empathetic, I think that there has been a correlation established between those who exhibit empathy and enjoying fiction (or at least narratives where you adopt another perspective).
I think it would be almost impossible to prove that reading improves empathy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the part of your brain responsible for empathy gets a workout when reading fiction.