Does the value of reading lie in READING?

[warpus]

I would imagine that you use different parts of your brain when you read, and different parts of your brain when you listen to someone read.

With probably lots of overlap, but it seems that the "good for you" effects could be similar, but they must be in some ways different

 

[Manfred Belheim]

I think the important part is the "studies have shown..." statement. If those studies relate to actually reading (which they most likely do), then it's not appropriate to claim that the results of those studies also apply to something that wasn't tested in the studies.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Memory retention from reading is higher
It probably to do with engaging the eyes and brain power required for language while audiobooks uses less senses and brainpower

 

[Ryika]

I think it very much depends on what you want to get out of a book.

If it's an informative book, and the goal is to specifically get an understanding of a certain topic, then listening to it (without being occupied with things that rob your attention too much) is probably enough.

But if it's anything else, then I think it makes a huge difference, at least for me personally. The processes of reading a book and listening to an audio book are vastly different.

Reading a book you do at your own pace, while you construct the world of the things you read in your head. You can easily stop for a brief moment to think about what you've just read. Listening to an audiobook happens at a steady pace that doesn't really give you the time to process the words that you heard. I still vividly remember some of the scenes from fantasy stories I read as I had imagined them in my head, but I remember no such thing for audio books, even those with really talented and interesting to listen to voice actors.

In a way, listening to an audio book is like sitting in a train and seeing a landscape pass by, and reading is like walking out into the landscape, while looking at all the details that surround you.

 

[Hygro]

In 6th grade my teacher realized we unruly preteens would benefit from being read to after lunch. That was how we discovered Harry Potter, she was hip to that real early. The experience of reading it and having it read to me was surprisingly similar. I think a big benefit is in the continued concentration of maintaining a symbolic world of information without going outside the confines of the material. That itself must be some kind of mental exercise. You can get that from both reading and being read to.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

In 6th grade my teacher realized we unruly preteens would benefit from being read to after lunch.

I can't imagine what possessed my Grade 5 teacher to think that Ivanhoe was a good choice to read to us. I wasn't particularly engaged in the story, and when the book came up many years later on the reading list of one of my college English courses, I tried to read it... and gave up. It's that boring, even though I do generally enjoy Middle Ages/chivalry stuff.

The librarian made a better choice. She read us a book in the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators mystery series... The Mystery of the Talking Skull. After she finished it, I decided I wanted to read it for myself. That led to reading every book in the series that school library had. I found more in other libraries, and finally when Christmas/birthdays rolled around, I asked for books in that series.

Today, I have the whole series that was published in English. It's a collection of mismatched editions - three were published in the U.K., half are the original American hard covers, and the rest are the later American paperback editions. Fast-forward many years, and I found out from the Yahoo! group dedicated to this series that there are dozens more that were published in Germany.

In German.

Which I don't read.



Last year one of the group members wrote a fan novel and posted a chapter a week. It had a decent old-school feel to it, other than the kids using cell phones, and I recall anticipating each Thursday evening when the latest chapter would be posted.

 

[Hygro]

I tried to read Ivanhoe in 4th grade and found it super boring as well.

 

[uppi]

Reading is an active activity where the reader is fully engaged in the text. Listening is a passive activity that allows the mind to wander at will.

Interesting. I would say the opposite. Reading allows your mind to wander, because you can adjust your speed at will and can always backtrack if you miss something. Listening always requires a constant amount of attention and if your mind wanders off to far (or you cannot follow even at maximum attention), you will miss much and there is no good way to slow down if you need to catch up.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Interesting. I would say the opposite. Reading allows your mind to wander, because you can adjust your speed at will and can always backtrack if you miss something. Listening always requires a constant amount of attention and if your mind wanders off to far (or you cannot follow even at maximum attention), you will miss much and there is no good way to slow down if you need to catch up.

I came to my conclusions after I tried to listen to books and found that it was much easier for my mind to wander (like when driving or walking and got distracted). If I am getting distracted while reading, I find it much easier to get back to the book than going through the rewind function etc. Yes, listening can take more attention for the very reason that is is easier to be distracted. In reading I find it easier to to get lost in the text and I can speed up and slow down my speed at will.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

In a way, listening to an audio book is like sitting in a train and seeing a landscape pass by, and reading is like walking out into the landscape, while looking at all the details that surround you.

I don't usually dig your language, but that is a very nice analogy.