Why Reading in 2020 Prepares for a Better Future
“Read more” has been the general goal set for 2020…. and 2019… and 2018, and 2017. My main goal was to set foot in 30 countries (I’m at 25) by the end of the year, but with this hot mess of a pandemic, resulting in a weakened U.S. passport, it looks like that on a hot hold. While I may not be able to go on an adventure overseas, at least my mind has been able to explore through the fun activity of reading.
Oh, boy. Reading.
Voraciously reading books was never something my young self imagined ever doing so much in the future. In some ways, diving into Michael Crichton science fiction novels and the fantastical Harry Potter series helped open up my young imagination. Something that could have only be done through reading.
I re-kindled reading interests a few years ago, diving into numerous self-help books and career books. Oftentimes, It felt like I was seeking answers to questions I didn’t seem to have deeply asked just yet; that I was reading the latest trendy novels to better connect with my generation, employers and cohorts. I thought reading self-help and career books would mean automatically soaking in the material, magically evolving me to reflect an ideal person that companies and employers would admire and surely hire.
While I got into some interesting books, the moment I asked “Why am I reading this?” was somewhat of a revelation. Bestselling self-help books started resonating less because it was uneasy to empathize and connect with some of the shared examples. I began to expand to different genres and discovered new legible avenues that expanded the mind. To say the least, whether warranted by the soul, random happenstance, or curiosity; reading has identified much of who I am today.
So why am I writing this and what makes reading so important in 2020?
Besides the global pandemic that has affected the lives of millions, environmental issues that humans as a whole are failing to address, and an uncertain future of our livelihoods serving tech oligarchs and governments as feudal serfs, I’d say reading plays a pretty damn big role in our efforts to stay sharp, independent, and aware.
But what makes reading different to education? At its core, society’s idea of education is a created system designed by a small group of incredibly privileged individuals who held superior monetary power; a system they created to hold onto this power and for their rich legacies to continue.
Currently, this education has largely not served the population well, especially those in lower-income households, and is increasingly becoming less affordable with rising student loan debt. Moreover, some of the fortunate younger generations who make it through higher education will be at a job that may at some point feel mindless and soulless, leaving one questioning everything.
If people didn’t read books, they’d be illiterate. Plain and simple.
Illiteracy is connected with some of humanity’s and society’s problems, including poverty, crime, climate change irreverence, and moral behavior. We tend to view reading as a chore, but should instead accept it as a skill to take us to the next level and prepare for a better future.
There is much to take away from books aside from their key lessons or subjects. Depending on what and how much we choose to read, it helps us develop a baseline of knowledge or truth, which in turn leads to self-imposing questions.
Building self-awareness through such self-imposed questions improves our observational skills, which tend to make us better people, listeners, leaders, and friends. Another positive consequence is being patient while reading; It’s a time consuming skill that improves with compounding growth.
Not only does reading help us analyze our inward self, but it can help with our understanding of the bigger picture and worldly ideas. As much as we think we understand and connect with the world through social media, this couldn’t be any further from the truth. We can observe younger generations constantly being barraged by notifications, led by ego-driven actions and validation of our grandiosity. In the end, this leads to an increased dependency on products created by the people holding power, causing gnat-like attention spans and shortened fuses that escalate human interactions.
Time spent reading has personally led to a variety of topics around economics, philosophy and psychology; topics that have arguably improved my life and those around me for the foreseeable better. Here are some of the books have personally helped develop new perspectives in 2020 so far:
Factfulness - Hans Rosling
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World - David Epstein
Man’s Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States - Daniel Immerwahr
Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class - Joel Kotkin
Laws of Human Nature - Robert Greene
If you’ve made it this far as a reader, thank you for taking the time out of your day to be here. I only hope to instill that reading is a crucial skill to continuously develop; one that is even more important as humans and society accelerates into a technologically controlled future. A future we can better prepare for if we read more.