Monday, June 29, 2009

Why I choose to read a book over watching television

By Nirmal Choradia
1st year student, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine

For as long as television has been around, people have been told that it is rotting their minds and destroying their ability to think. Instead, people say read a book.

How is reading a book better than watching television? If we compare the two, television provides more information, more current information, more options, more opinions, and just more of everything. Yet, people still say reading a book is better than television, and so obviously, these people must have arguments for their beliefs.

These arguments mainly fall under the idea that books either impart more intelligence or allow us to think more critically and imaginatively. As far as imparting more intelligence is concerned, the amount of information provided by television pales in comparison to the information provided by a book. In order to process this massive amount of information, we are required to analyze more critically what is important and what is extraneous. Also, with this amount of information, we have to use our imagination to create conclusions that satisfy all that we have heard. So if not for more intelligence, critical thinking, or imagination, why would reading books be better than watching television?

I propose another idea - reading a book allows us to more clearly feel the emotional currents around us; reading heightens our ability to feel.

When you pick up a book, you knowingly give up your time and energy in order to immerse yourself in a world of your own creation built upon details given by an author. To read a book, you must be drawn to it. The emotions that draw you to it need to be strong in order to convince you that the time and energy you spend is well worth it. The emotions that govern this choice are the same ones that make us passionately defend our morals; thus, we should practice feeling this emotion in order to be prepared to use it in our lives. This is why I will always choose to read a book instead of watching television.

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