In Praise of Useless Reading

By Aaron Blumer
Jan 28 2019
Reading
Fiction

"One of the great reasons to read works of the imagination is to overcome our habitual disposition toward utility." - Jessica Hooten Wilson

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Bert Perry's picture

Bert Perry -

If nothing else, reading fiction and poetry allows one to develop the mental "chops" to understand the same, and it moreover gives you the tools to tell a story or sing a song well.  I was using these skills (perhaps poorly) yesterday when I was leading a class in child protection--having experienced a bit of "how things can go wrong", I was able to tell stories, which seemed to go over a lot better than the principles.  It's a powerful method of communication.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

Andrew K's picture

Andrew K -

"Everyone knows the usefulness of what is useful, but few know the usefulness of what is useless."

-Zhuangzi (庄子)