Blog | Four Reasons Reading Drives Us Mad - And Why We Still Keep At It

To many, reading is a paragon of hobbies. If you take the wide spectrum of leisure activities that humans devote much of their lives to pursue, reading sits snugly in the Goldilocks zone: the sweet spot that defines the perfect avocation. Consider the evidence: an interest in philately, numismatics, or collecting trinkets of any kind really, marks you out as someone who spends their weekends caressing their collection albums and murmuring, 'My precious....'. Opting for a more energetic brand of recreation - like cycling or running, for instance - signals to society that if anyone makes the mistake of approaching you, they will hear about your training regimen in insufferable detail.

On the other hand, reading - as a hobby - offers a number of benefits. You can win any debate so long as you preface your argument with the words, 'Well, I know that's what you heard on a podcast but I read in a book...'. When your friends are raving about a new movie, you can declare with a sniff, 'To be perfectly honest, the book is much better...'. Surrounding yourself with books can earn you the admiration of your peers. You don't even need to have read them - merely possessing a well-stocked bookcase can make you a sophisticate (ask any interior designer). In these times of snappy reels, clickbait headlines, and dwindling attention spans, book readers are revered as 'Zen masters' who can ignore the lure of doomscrolling and immerse themselves in the textual world.

It is no wonder then that so many parents hope their children grow up to be readers, or that countless adults strive to adopt reading as a hobby. Yet, you rarely hear anyone talking about the undiagnosed emotional damage caused by books - anyone who has read A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara will know what I mean - and the pernicious effects of reading in general. It is about time someone acted to remedy this grave oversight.