Why Read?

In my quest to discover how and why things happen, I read. I like to read. I'm all for it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, not everyone is. I know a fellow—I won't mention his name—who in all seriousness said to me, "Man, you read and all you do is regurgitate."

You see, in his mind a type of learning I favor has been reduced to regurgitation, and that somehow has evolved into a negative value. No exceptions. His claim is that to read and cite sources for your discoveries, as in an essay or conversation centered on ideas, is essentially a waste of time, a valueless exercise.

Somehow he has gotten it into his mind that the accumulation and absorption of important ideas, what is referred to as knowledge, is valueless.

Well, perhaps he's onto something. Or perhaps he isn’t.

Let us separate out, for the purpose of my response, the difference between reading and practical experience. The latter is of course an inarguable aspect of learning. I’m not here to argue or quantify the difference.

I will not make the mistake my acquaintance makes and short-change either methodology.

Readers, no matter their discipline, often are forced to recall knowledge. For example, your doctor usually has a compendium or two handy to help him comprehend what ails you. He's no doubt read them many times, or you would hope he has. What does it take to be a doctor, twelve years of rigorous study and application?

I'd hate to be treated by one who can't recall his knowledge of diseases. One who knows the basics and demonstrates imagination in the application of what he knows may in fact be a great doctor, which is what you want.

Regurgitate is an ugly word. It has an ugly sound. In the context of anti-intellectualism, it has an ugly purpose. It is designed to tear down rather than build discourse.

It is designed to blow up reason and enhance ideology.

It is a favorite word of those who would ignore history, for history is purely regurgitation in the minds of those unaccustomed to nuance and subtlety.

Sadly, history is often taught that way to young, hungry minds, deadening them by junior high.

Here's what my acquaintance doesn't understand. Reading offers the basics, a foundation for originality. To gain knowledge you must read. If you can then use what you have learned and create by taking a step ahead, devise something new, foment a revolution of ideas rather than ideology, then you have accomplished something.

By all means, tear that motorcycle engine apart and put it back together again, and be proud of your ability to do so. That is knowledge of an important variety.

But consider this—if you do not bother to read, you haven't even a chance to give back, or fight back on a very fundamental plane. You haven't a chance to go beyond what you think you know.

You haven't a chance to truly learn, absorb ideas, and be creative in your own right.

I have two reactions to the sort of anti-intellectualism I’ve just described. First, it makes me angry. Second, I wonder how one lives without reading.

You may not die if you don't read, but you certainly won't live fully, either. Rather you will find solace in delusions and dogma, and you will be poorer for your lack of effort.

If you're so damn smart that you can get along without reading, you're a unique human being.


TS