Given that I’m only reading this post after following a long chain of fanfiction which lead me to Methods of Rationality, I have to disagree.
In fact, I’d hazard a guess that if we surveyed all of the readers on this site, we’d find a very strong tendency toward fiction reading when compared to the general population.
The brittish cohort study famously found that reading for pleasure in childhood is one of the most important factors for childhood development. https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/briefings_impact/?s=&filter=1&and=1&post_type=briefings_impact&studies[]=&types[]=impact-case-studies
Additionally, I’m very aware that a majority of my moral values are derived from fiction. The Sword of Truth series probably shaped my political leanings more strongly than my grade school social studies classes did. Rational examination over the years has held up most (though certainly not all) of the ideals subconsciously granted by through starry-eyed gazing at heroic protagonists. Modern politics would be very different if every adult today had read through the fiction section of their local library as a child.
It is a valid idea, and I think reading your post will help me be more cognizant of potential memtic hazards in future fiction. I might agree more with a narrower argument that a fully developed rational adult should focus mainly on non-fiction though. Thanks for the well thought out post.
Given that I’m only reading this post after following a long chain of fanfiction which lead me to Methods of Rationality, I have to disagree. In fact, I’d hazard a guess that if we surveyed all of the readers on this site, we’d find a very strong tendency toward fiction reading when compared to the general population. The brittish cohort study famously found that reading for pleasure in childhood is one of the most important factors for childhood development. https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/briefings_impact/?s=&filter=1&and=1&post_type=briefings_impact&studies[]=&types[]=impact-case-studies Additionally, I’m very aware that a majority of my moral values are derived from fiction. The Sword of Truth series probably shaped my political leanings more strongly than my grade school social studies classes did. Rational examination over the years has held up most (though certainly not all) of the ideals subconsciously granted by through starry-eyed gazing at heroic protagonists. Modern politics would be very different if every adult today had read through the fiction section of their local library as a child. It is a valid idea, and I think reading your post will help me be more cognizant of potential memtic hazards in future fiction. I might agree more with a narrower argument that a fully developed rational adult should focus mainly on non-fiction though. Thanks for the well thought out post.