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Read Better Books To Be a Better Person

Posted by timothy on from the great-books-like-the-novelization-of-grand-theft-auto-5 dept.

00_NOP writes "Researchers from the New School for Social Research in New York have demonstrated that if you read quality literary fiction you become a better person, in the sense that you are more likely to empathize with others [paper abstract]. Presumably we can all think of books that have changed the way we feel about the world — so this is, in a sense, a scientific confirmation of something fairly intuitive."

9 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Nonsense. by ornil · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's a deeply flawed study. Basically, it's cherry-picking with a vengeance. There's a good discussion at Language Log: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=7715

    1. Re:Nonsense. by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 4, Informative

      For what it's worth, that was thrown on later by media uptake; the authors simply talk about theory of mind. It is safe to assume Ayn Rand has a very small chance of fostering this in someone.

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    2. Re:Nonsense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

    3. Re:Nonsense. by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Wow, multiple mods of "Troll" to counter the upmods from people who can actually read context.

      I never said Ayn Rand was a good person, or that her books embodied 'truth', or that her books were an enjoyable read. In fact, in several prior posts I have stated the exact opposite positions.

      But as far as the premise that choosing what books you read makes you a better person, I can still state that choosing her works over Dickens is not necessarily a detractor.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    4. Re:Nonsense. by SternisheFan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Rand was broken by the Bolsheviks as a girl, and she never left their bootprint behind. She believed her philosophy was Bolshevism's opposite, when in reality it was its twin. Both she and the Soviets insisted a small revolutionary elite in possession of absolute rationality must seize power and impose its vision on a malleable, imbecilic mass. The only difference was that Lenin thought the parasites to be stomped on were the rich, while Rand thought they were the poor.

      http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2009/11/how_ayn_rand_became_an_american_icon.html

      Sounds to me that she was a sad, drug addicted nut who was overly influenced by her rough childhood, and any nut can write books. Doesn't make them right (see: L.Ron Hubbard).

    5. Re:Nonsense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      There's a wonderful little joke in my language, and it comes from a time of being a peoples republic:
      Capitalism is humans exploiting other humans. Communism is the reverse of that.

  2. Re:And this is news? by timeOday · · Score: 4, Informative

    Read the article, it was a randomized study in which people were assigned to read specified books selected beforehand by the experimenters.

  3. I Read Starship Troopers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now I want to kill all the Bugs and blow up their planet...

  4. Some do, some don't by Dr.+Winston+O'Boogie · · Score: 3, Informative

    The only possible interpretation of any research whatever in the 'social sciences' is: some do, some don't. -- Ernest Rutherford