In Praise of Useless Reading
“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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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.
“Everyone knows the usefulness of what is useful, but few know the usefulness of what is useless.”
-Zhuangzi (庄子)
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