If the fiction rings true, the reader will empathize with the characters and learn from their experiences what the characters themselves learned.
I think that depends mostly on individual reading style, actually. I tend to ignore emotional situations unless they’re extremely obvious, because I find them hard to follow (which is probably because I haven’t spent much energy on learning to follow them… no, I don’t know which came first), which leads to not having much investment in characters compared to how most people seem to react. I find it much easier to gather insights about things like how groups might be organized, or how problems might be solved, and I do pick up the type of insight mentioned in the original post, too.
Agreed. Part of the reason I love reading Asimov is that he focuses so much on the ideas he’s presenting, without much attempt to invest the reader emotionally in the characters. I find the latter impairs my ability to synthesize useful general truths from fiction (especially short stories, my favorite form of Asimov).
I think that depends mostly on individual reading style, actually. I tend to ignore emotional situations unless they’re extremely obvious, because I find them hard to follow (which is probably because I haven’t spent much energy on learning to follow them… no, I don’t know which came first), which leads to not having much investment in characters compared to how most people seem to react. I find it much easier to gather insights about things like how groups might be organized, or how problems might be solved, and I do pick up the type of insight mentioned in the original post, too.
Agreed. Part of the reason I love reading Asimov is that he focuses so much on the ideas he’s presenting, without much attempt to invest the reader emotionally in the characters. I find the latter impairs my ability to synthesize useful general truths from fiction (especially short stories, my favorite form of Asimov).