Cav's Place

This post has been sitting in my drafts for a very long time and it’s not about being an open book, but actually about books. The title comes from a question I saw on OkCupid once, which asked where would you choose to place a glass of water if you had to let go of it and the only choices were an open book, a grand piano and a DVD player. I actually felt a little offended by the idea that some, or perhaps many, would choose to place it on the open book. What can I say, I don’t care too much about pianos and see nothing wrong with placing it on the DVD player…

It keeps being said that people read far less now than they did in the past. That’s certainly true, but I’m not sure it means that people have really changed. Since most people make the vast majority of their choices before a certain age and then stick to them for the rest of their lives, the available choices and society’s pressure play a large part in this. The more other options were available to you at the time you made it, the more relevant a choice is. I wonder how many of those who are past a certain age and complain that people don’t read anymore would have still chosen to read themselves if the society they lived in when they were young would have been as it is today.
The reduction of the number of people who choose a certain option is a direct result of increasing the number of options. Books offer both entertainment and information, and presently there are certainly many more means of obtaining either than there were in the past. That’s a good thing, it offers each person a better chance of engaging in the activity they like the most instead of the one they dislike the least. Choosing other means of obtaining information makes perfect sense too, since it is faster to do so and the information obtained through more modern means can also be more recent than the one found in a book, both factors being very important. On the other hand, completely eliminating reading from your leisure activities is a matter of personal choice and it can say something about the person’s character; whether that something is good or bad depends on the kind of people you want around you.
Another cause is the fact that society pressures people towards instant gratification. Reading takes time and that is something many have preciously little of. Society promotes the idea that “time is money” and the desire for more money. It also promotes ambition and the drive for achievement. People are pressured against “wasting” their time on leisure activities instead of using it to take a few more steps in the rat race. This, of course, only makes it all that more relevant when a person still chooses to read for pleasure these days, making a clear statement about their personality.
Saying again, I don’t think people have changed. Many just go with the flow, without thinking or caring, while many others give in after only a brief struggle. The fact that the “flow” changed doesn’t make those who went with it in the past any better than those who do so now. Those who make the choice to go against it now, however… They’re the ones who matter.

But, besides information and entertainment, books offer something else. They offer a starting point for your dreams, your fantasies, that little (or not so little) world inside your head. When you read a book you create the world, the characters and the action inside your mind. Though you are taken through it all, it’s not provided to you as a series of images which you can just sit there and absorb, as is the case of movies. You need to take the words and sentences and put them together over a period of time. And once you have it in your mind, you can expand upon it, use it as a “blueprint” or just as training for your imagination, before working on your own fantasies.
Taking only that into consideration, one could assume that perhaps the imagination of the average human has improved so much that it no longer needs such training. But one look around is enough to prove that assumption wrong. Human imagination did not improve and the fact that it’s being used even less makes it even less likely to do so in the future. That results in less individualism and less detachment from everyday struggles. In turn, that causes more stress, which results in a lot of other problems, less caring for others and the world as a whole and certainly less chance for improvement.
Of course, many people simply aren’t inclined towards being imaginative. They wouldn’t accomplish much if they took that path, so trying to make them to improve that part of themselves is pretty useless at best. It can actually be detrimental to try to make them read, as it happens in school, because they will struggle and get very little, if anything, out of the experience, making them avoid it and any other imaginative endeavors even more in the future. They are who they are and shouldn’t be forced to change unless they try to make others who are different become like them. However, they should be offered other effective means to relieve stress and, especially, incentives to care for others and the world as a whole.
On the other hand, people who are inclined to be imaginative should be encouraged. It could actually be beneficial to have them swim against the tide in the beginning, just so you’ll know they have made a choice and are not just going with the flow, but after a while it should get easier. They should be encouraged and helped, because they’re the ones who can make this world better, and that’s something that’s sorely needed. And since liking to read fiction, especially the kind that isn’t too anchored in “reality”, is a trait these people generally have in common, it might be useful in easily telling them apart from the rest. A decision certainly could not be based solely on this, but it could be a factor.

This was supposed to be about books and ended up being focused way more on several other things, but thinking about reading for pleasure is what started me on this train of thought.
Just make sure not to put hot, wet or dirty things on open books, all right?