Before TV and the Internet, before movies and video games, there was this crazy activity, that people worldwide partook in. People around the World would do it all day, sometimes in public, and sometimes, even with their kids! This activity is almost unheard of today. We know it as ‘reading’ (pronounced ree - ding). Reading books (besides in class) is almost unheard of today. Unless you’re really nerdy or really artsy, you probably don’t read. That’s the sad truth.

In our current World, reading for entertainment is at a rapid decline. In 1984, 91% of 17 year old kids said that they read regularly, as of 2014 that number is at 19% (via Time Magazine). Today most kids (and even some adults) believe that there is no entertainment in reading, but the truth is that reading anything opens you up to a whole new world. For example, in the book Catcher in the Rye, you are catapulted into the stream of consciousness of a struggling teenage boy, Holden Caulfield. Every year I hear kids complain about having to read this book and how boring it is, but if you really pay attention you find out how interesting his life really is. By reading, you’re given the ability to imagine better and work your imagination into real world application.

Partly do to the fact that we have the world at our fingertips with all of today’s technology, the average person finds reading to be boring or outdated. Often people fail to grasp the concept that even though they have this whole universe right before their eyes, they can only grasp a fraction of what they are seeing through that 5” screen. People would rather be entertained, than entertain themselves, but the truth is that when being entertained you are shutting off your brain and virtually making yourself stupider. For example, when watching TV, your brain is put in a hypnotic state (via eruptingmind.com). On the other hand, when reading your brain is being stimulated. No other form of media can trigger reactions in your brain the way reading can.

Through out history, reading has had great impact. Truthfully, reading is the origin of history because history is defined as the period of time originating back to the first written records. Since reading naturally stimulates the brain, it naturally makes people question themselves, and people tend to change beliefs or act differently because of these questions raging in their minds. For example, the crusades were basically started because people formulated opinions from reading the Bible, thus starting the crusades, resulting in the death of millions of Hebrews, all because of reading a simple book.

Personally, reading has been an important part of my life since a young age. When I was a kid, my mother used to read to me at night before I went to bed. When I was ten years old I began reading the Economist (a political magazine). I didn’t understand much of it, but I thought that all the extensive and intricate words were interesting. Once I was introduced to a world outside of my neighborhood, everything began to fall in place and make more sense to me. At around age fifteen, I started connecting everything I read to my personal life, and thus reading became a bridge between a separate world and my own.
Reading has changed the way that I perceive and the world around me. I believe that reading is the music of intellectuals. It stimulates the mind and leaves you feeling emotions at a much deeper level than you could imagine. Reading is the essence of intelligence and growth.