The Importance of Reading

Reading is one of those things which is so often promoted and pushed that, when you're told you need to read more, you'll tend to roll your eyes and sigh. Reading! In this modern age? This is an absurdity!

It's undeniable that we live in a world of bite-sized information. We consume only the shortest form of media, such as 20 second long videos on TikTok, or the conveniently condensed notes our teachers give us. For the newer generations, long gone are the times you spend anything more than a minute concentrating on a fixed piece of media. Nowadays, we hop from one thing to the next, like bees from one flower to the next.

Reading, as we once knew it, is being phased out. The era of condensed media, fitting in with our fast paced, hectic lifestyle, is only starting.

Now, while I am writing this article, it would be foolish of you to think that I am somehow considering myself superior in some way. As though I am completely unaffected by this flaw. And it is a flaw. I, just like most of you here, have the same problem.

Reading, I believe, can fall under two main categories. That is, academic and non-academic or non-fiction and fiction.

Academic literature is more learning focused. It includes domains such as school literature and scientific research.

School literature would be in the form of the books prescribed to students. And, let's not kid ourselves. Very very few people actually take the time and effort to read the school books. In a show of hands, only 2 or 3 out of a class of at least 20 actually read their books. And that's incredible, you know? Because those books are essential resources which help familiarise yourself with the curriculum and the subject matter.
My biology teacher always says that our classes at school are not the "be all end all" of biology. He always tells us that the notes he gives are not complete in terms of content and as such encourages us to read further on our own. Our school books, the internet and the books in the reference library. What is interesting about this is that not only do we students have access to more information than could be made available in our few classes of subsidiary subject, but we get to parse the information by ourselves and thus allow us to form our own opinions, by comparing facts from different sources.
And boy, in the current age of media misinformation, it is really important to be able to think for yourself and form your own opinions. Or else, you will find yourself consuming Ivermectin or horse medicine to "cure yourself from Covid-19". Those who cannot read and cannot analyse literature in a critical manner are bound to fall for all the traps and scams that life throws at them.

Academic literature would also extend to scientific research. There are plenty of scientific papers and other publications freely available on the internet (but maybe you'll need a pirate hat for some) and all of these are extremely useful in understanding more with respect to yourself and the world around you. Back when Covid-19 was a novel thing, I personally had a read through some peer-reviewed publications to understand a little bit more about the virus. There's so much information out there. You, as a human being, have a finite time on Earth. But, with so much information there at your fingertips, you get to learn so much more about anything and everything. You cannot get an academic education in a dozen fields with the time you have. Instead, you can gain the knowledge from a dozen people who each specialised in their own domain.

From my point of view, news falls outside the fiction/non-fiction binary but that does not diminish its importance.

News allows a deeper understanding of your country and the whole world. While not being as scientifically oriented as science publications, news instead focuses on the human aspect. Therefore, concepts such as geopolitics, socio-economic status, or human interactions are all covered by the news.

I can go online (once again an advantage of the internet) and I can read any news from any country. I could get up to date with the Russo-Ukrainian war. Or I could have a laugh at the UK burning through Prime Ministers. I had to do an MUN last year, representing Colombia. And of course, local news outlets helped me get a thorough understanding of the social situation there, as well as unrest due to gangs and gun violence.

How many people can say they are even keeping up with the political hellscape of Mauritius? Extremely few! For example, I'll admit that I have not been keeping up with the Kistnen situation. If you want an opinion on politics, head here!

This finally brings us to non-academic literature. This sort of reading is not centered around the reader obtaining novel knowledge but more around the reader's entertainment and enjoyment. To put it simply: story books.

I love the saying that you have only one life. In our finite lifetime, we cannot live through all there is to live through. Instead, reading offers you the opportunity to live more lives. Each one with its own ups and downs and lessons to be learnt. But, some may wonder just how significant this effect actually is. Like, what relation does a fantastical novel about dragons and elves and trolls have to do with the real world? In my opinion, every story, no matter how far fetched it may be, is grounded in the real world. And this is because the writer is human (for now at least). And the writer will pour their humanity into their work and their real joys and sorrows and a world of experiences will weave together to form the fabric of the story.
And of course, this translates to the reader gaining new experiences second-hand, with medium being the story.

Now, everyone who knows me knows that I have a strong dislike for literature and that I am very proud of my aggregate of 6 (or 7, I cannot remember) in English Literature at O-levels. But yet I do absolutely agree that reading story books helps develop critical thinking and analytical skills. I like re-reading my books and there's a series I've read in its entirety (12 books) around 15 times. Every time I read, I pick up on small details or realise new things. This stems from reading between the lines and picking up on literary hints left by the author to further develop the image of the world.

Furthermore, story books helps develop your imagination and creativity for obvious reasons. It also allows the reader to see different worlds from different points of view, thus helping them open their mind and have a more "balanced" view of the world.

And of course. Reading helps develop vocabulary and enhances writing skills.
This is because of the exposure the reader gets from the books. It's fascinating to me how different authors can have such distinct and exotic writing styles. And to think that exposure to so many styles of writing means nothing is absurdity. The reader is able to learn new types of sentence structure which may be unconventional and not taught at school but which fit them. You learn new ways to write, new styles to express yourself in. And that, to me, is what writing is about. I write all these articles on a somewhat regular basis and the act of writing them is how my brain expresses itself. Think of it like clothing; everyone has a style they like, that they feel comfortable in. In the same way, I think everyone has their own style of expression and until you find your own style, you will never feel at ease with your words. ** (refer to end of article)

Mr Moothien, my HV teacher, said on a regular basis that (paraphrased) our thoughts are a bird trapped in a cage of our language. This means that no matter what grand thoughts you may have, you will never be able to convey them to the world if you lack the language to do so. And what a pity it is that your thoughts will never reach the ears of others.

It was inevitable that I was going to talk about GP. Writing a well structured GP essay requires a level of fluency and mastery of language not required in O-level essays from Form 5. You need to be able to fully flesh out your thoughts and convey your ideas in a structured way or else you will score peanuts. Your grammar must be sufficiently developed so that you don't lack the words to describe something when you are sitting in the exam room. And, you cannot get this skill from bite-sized TikTok videos or Twitter posts. Not at all. You need to sit yourself down and read. Then read some more. Read until you have the power granted by words to express yourself in such a way that your thoughts will never be held back by the limitations of language.

And, to add, these skills mentioned for GP are not exclusive to GP. In biology, when I need to formulate answers to questions, I need to be able to express myself fully. I need to not only put my knowledge into words but put it into words which the examiner will understand and award me marks for. This isn't relegated to the sciences of course; I'm certain that subjects like Business, Travel & Tourism and the like need this ease of expression just as much.

Thank you very much for reading. This was initially a speech I made during the last HV class of 2022, with Mr Lindsay Moothien and Mrs Linda. Thank you very much for the classes which were nothing short of memorable.

** Some people have asked me a bit about my writing stye in the past so I'll go over it quickly. When I write, I like "talking" to the reader, which is why many of my articles are written in a somewhat personal way. Also, unless I'm flaming someone alive, I like keeping articles light-hearted. I know I'm not great at joking and my sense of humour falls flat more often than not, but I think it's important to keep a "human" aspect in whatever I write, instead of being plain and boring and factual. This is also how I write my GP essays, much to the displeasure of whoever has the bad luck of correcting it.