Is Reading Fiction Books Good for You?
2020-06-14 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 5:47 · watch on YouTube
Topic: Books and reading (also: Health, sleep and habits) · mode: Explanation and tutorial · tags: Evidence-based framing, His medical past
In a Journal Club episode Ali, who reads mostly fantasy and paranormal romance, reviews studies linking fiction reading to empathy, less prejudice, a richer vocabulary, lower stress, better sleep and a lower dementia risk, and concludes that fiction, in balance, helps him wind down.
What is said
The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).
00:00:00 — His fiction habit and the question whether reading fiction is a waste of time
- ★★ Ali says most of what he reads is fiction: he always has a fantasy series on Audible, currently The Wheel of Time, and a paranormal romance on Kindle before bed, currently A Court of Thorns and Roses. — 00:00:00 · Audible, Kindle
- ★★ Ali feels bad about watching TV or playing video games as a waste of time, yet would stay up until 4 a.m. reading fiction, which for some reason feels more legit to him than TV. — 00:00:22
- ★ Journal Club is Ali's video series that looks at scientific papers for important insights; this episode asks whether reading fiction is good for you. — 00:00:22
00:00:52 — Fiction, empathy and prejudice: Ann Patchett, a 2018 meta-analysis, a 2014 study, Noughts and Crosses
- ★★ Ann Patchett (quoted): The American author Ann Patchett said that reading fiction gives us the ability to feel empathy for people we have never met, because the book puts us inside a character's skin. — 00:00:52
- ★★ Ali says that although he had to convince people that empathy was one of his strongest traits to get into medical school, he has always struggled to relate to other people's negative emotions. — 00:00:52
- ★★★ A 2018 meta-analysis of 14 studies found that, compared with non-fiction reading or no reading, reading fiction leads to a small, statistically significant improvement in social cognitive performance. — 00:01:21
- ★★ A 2014 study said that reading narrative fiction appears to reduce biased categorical and emotional perception of mixed-race people. — 00:01:56
- ★★ Ali says his first real understanding of racism came from reading Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses series when he was about 11. — 00:01:56
00:02:25 — Vocabulary and brain imaging: testyourvocab.com and studies of language, smell and motor regions
- ★★ A study by the website testyourvocab.com found that reading builds vocabulary and that fiction readers had a more varied and deeper vocabulary than readers of non-fiction. — 00:02:25
- ★★ A 2013 brain-imaging study shows that reading fiction lights up the left temporal cortex, the part of the brain that deals with language. — 00:02:25
- ★★ A study from Spain showed that reading words such as lavender, perfume and coffee lights up the smell regions of the brain. — 00:02:54
- ★★ A study from France shows that reading about different motor activities lights up different parts of the motor cortex. — 00:02:54
- ★★ Ali says the brain-imaging studies do not directly show that reading fiction is good for us, but show that reading lights up parts of the brain beyond those that process language. — 00:02:54
00:03:40 — Stress, sleep and dementia: the University of Sussex study, a 2011 study and an NHS page
- ★★★ A University of Sussex study found that reading fiction reduces stress more than walking, music or video games, and that as little as six minutes of reading cuts stress levels by 60%. — 00:03:40
- ★★ The same University of Sussex study also showed that reading before bed improves the quality of sleep. — 00:03:40
- ★★ A 2011 study found that more reading and hobby activities and more weekly reading time are associated with a lower later risk of dementia; Ali stresses this is a correlation, not causation. — 00:04:09
- ★★ An NHS page says studies cannot prove that more cognitive activity directly prevents mild cognitive impairment or dementia, but accepts that regular reading could help and recommends getting a library card. — 00:04:09 · NHS
00:04:38 — What it means for his reading: enjoyment, balance and winding down; fantasy recommendations
- ★ In place of a library card, Ali himself reads with a Kindle and an Audible subscription. — 00:04:38 · Kindle, Audible
- ★★ Ali says he reads fiction for enjoyment, not to be productive, but likes it when what he does for fun also has some long-term benefit. — 00:04:38
- ★★★ Ali thinks the key is balance: reading only fiction would leave nothing else done, but fiction and fantasy audiobooks on Audible help him wind down and relax, so he can be productive the rest of the time. — 00:05:07 · Audible
- ★ Ali says he might get a PlayStation, play some video games and make a video on whether video games are good for you. (hedged) — 00:05:07
- ★★ Ali recommends fantasy books to anyone who wants to read fiction, and points to his video on his three favourite fantasy series. — 00:05:37
In the description and comments
- ★ Ali Abdaal (channel): The channel says the first upload of this video had a technical error on one of its slides, so the video was re-uploaded. — creator comment
Threads in this video
- first on record · Is reading fiction worthwhile? — Ali thinks the key is balance: reading only fiction would leave nothing else done, but fiction and fantasy audiobooks on Audible help him wind down and relax, so he can be productive the rest of the time. (00:05:07)
Mentioned
Replies to
- refers to · My Favourite Fantasy Books (original, 2019, not in this wiki)
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