The Pleasures of Reading
Books and the written word are some of the most important things in life. Knowledge, experience, and information are all written down and stored on either paper or in electronic format for anyone to access. The ability to read is one of the skills we learn in school that helps us with many things throughout life.
If you want to learn something you can probably find the information you need written up in a book. If you want a pleasant diversion from life and entertainment, there are books of fiction that can give hours of pleasure. Reading is important, and not just for utilitarian reasons. The ability to read gives us freedom.
In the days before writing was invented, the only way people had of passing on information was with spoken language. Written language was developed in ancient Babylon to keep track of debts. The original use of writing was for business. Later, epic poems like the Epic of Gilgamesh were transcribed in cuneiform text on clay tablets. Impressing language on some form of medium not only served to transmit the information to many people, it also preserved the information for long periods of time.
We live in an age of massive amounts of information. This may be as mundane as some random person’s opinion or as earth-shattering as a new peace treaty. Reading not only improves our lives, it improves society. Reading exercises the imagination and expands the senses. Through the written word we are able to keep records of our deeds and knowledge, and communicate our thoughts and feelings to the entire world.
We live in an age of change. The written word is no longer held hostage by the publishing business. Anyone with access to the Internet and a computer can type up their thoughts and transmit their words to anyone in the world who cares to read. No longer do the masses of people have to listen to the programming of the mass media. We are free to form our own opinions and to communicate to the people of the world. The written word is not only knowledge, it is power. How you use this power will define you as a person in the coming age of information.
