What do you think are the benefits of reading fiction (all kinds, not just science fiction) apart from the entertainment value? Whatever you’re learning about the real world from fiction, wouldn’t it be more effective to read a textbook instead or something? Is fiction mostly about entertainment rather than learning and improvement? Any thoughts?
We are wired for individual rather than general insights. Stories are much more effective at communicating certain things than treatises are. I would never have believed, in theory, that a man who enjoyed killing could be worthy of respect; only a story could convince me. To use Robin Hanson’s terminology, narrative can bring near mode and far mode together.
Why not true stories? I think there you get into Aristotle and why versimilitude can be more effective than mere reality. True stories are good too, but life is disorderly and not necessarily narrative. It’s a truism of writing workshops and creative writing classes that whenever you see a particularly unrealistic event in a story, the author will protest “But that really happened!” It doesn’t matter; it’s still unrealistic. Narrative is, I think, a particular kind of brain function that humans are good at, and it’s a painting, not a photograph. To tap into our ability to understand each other through narrative, we usually need to fictionalize the world, apply some masks and filters.
It was not until I read Three Worlds Collide that I began to embrace moral consequentialism. I would not have found an essay or real-life case study nearly as convincing.
ETA: I didn’t change my mind just because I liked the story. The story made me realize that in a particular situation, I would be a moral consequentialist.
My take on works of fiction, especially written fiction, is that they’re thought experiments for your emotional intelligence. The best ones are the ones written for that purpose, since I think they tend to better optimize the net value of entertainment and personal growth.
Morality in particular usually stems from some sort of emotional intelligence, like empathy, so it makes sense to me that written fiction could help especially with that.
A possible benefit of fiction is that it leads you to experience emotions vicariously that it would be much more expensive to experience for real, yet the vicarious experience is realistic enough that it serves as useful practice, a way of “taming” the emotions. Textbooks don’t convey emotions.
I seem to recall this argument from a review of Cloverfield, or possibly the director’s commentary. Broadcast images such as from the 9/11 aftermath generated lots of anxiety, and seeing similar images—the amateurish, jerky camcorder type—reframed in a fictional setting which is “obviously” over the top helps you, the audience, come to terms with the reality.
Fiction is good for teasing out possibilities and counterfactuals, experimenting with different attitudes toward the world (as opposed to learning facts about the world), and learning to be cool.
On the other hand (and I speak as a person who really likes fiction), it’s possible that you learn more about the human range by reading letters and diaries—whatever is true in fiction may be distorted to make good stories.
Whatever you’re learning about the real world from fiction, wouldn’t it be more effective to read a textbook instead or something?
Let’s assume for the sake of argument that your time would be better spent reading a textbook. Getting yourself to read textbooks is harder than getting yourself to read entertaining fiction, so you may not get as much benefit from textbooks even if you get more benefit per hour.
Also, it sounds like you’re putting too little importance on fun. Fun is important.
Here’s my question to everyone:
What do you think are the benefits of reading fiction (all kinds, not just science fiction) apart from the entertainment value? Whatever you’re learning about the real world from fiction, wouldn’t it be more effective to read a textbook instead or something? Is fiction mostly about entertainment rather than learning and improvement? Any thoughts?
We are wired for individual rather than general insights. Stories are much more effective at communicating certain things than treatises are. I would never have believed, in theory, that a man who enjoyed killing could be worthy of respect; only a story could convince me. To use Robin Hanson’s terminology, narrative can bring near mode and far mode together.
Why not true stories? I think there you get into Aristotle and why versimilitude can be more effective than mere reality. True stories are good too, but life is disorderly and not necessarily narrative. It’s a truism of writing workshops and creative writing classes that whenever you see a particularly unrealistic event in a story, the author will protest “But that really happened!” It doesn’t matter; it’s still unrealistic. Narrative is, I think, a particular kind of brain function that humans are good at, and it’s a painting, not a photograph. To tap into our ability to understand each other through narrative, we usually need to fictionalize the world, apply some masks and filters.
It was not until I read Three Worlds Collide that I began to embrace moral consequentialism. I would not have found an essay or real-life case study nearly as convincing.
ETA: I didn’t change my mind just because I liked the story. The story made me realize that in a particular situation, I would be a moral consequentialist.
My take on works of fiction, especially written fiction, is that they’re thought experiments for your emotional intelligence. The best ones are the ones written for that purpose, since I think they tend to better optimize the net value of entertainment and personal growth.
Morality in particular usually stems from some sort of emotional intelligence, like empathy, so it makes sense to me that written fiction could help especially with that.
A possible benefit of fiction is that it leads you to experience emotions vicariously that it would be much more expensive to experience for real, yet the vicarious experience is realistic enough that it serves as useful practice, a way of “taming” the emotions. Textbooks don’t convey emotions.
I seem to recall this argument from a review of Cloverfield, or possibly the director’s commentary. Broadcast images such as from the 9/11 aftermath generated lots of anxiety, and seeing similar images—the amateurish, jerky camcorder type—reframed in a fictional setting which is “obviously” over the top helps you, the audience, come to terms with the reality.
Fiction is good for teasing out possibilities and counterfactuals, experimenting with different attitudes toward the world (as opposed to learning facts about the world), and learning to be cool.
On the other hand (and I speak as a person who really likes fiction), it’s possible that you learn more about the human range by reading letters and diaries—whatever is true in fiction may be distorted to make good stories.
Let’s assume for the sake of argument that your time would be better spent reading a textbook. Getting yourself to read textbooks is harder than getting yourself to read entertaining fiction, so you may not get as much benefit from textbooks even if you get more benefit per hour.
Also, it sounds like you’re putting too little importance on fun. Fun is important.