Purpose of reading

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Anonymous
Purpose of reading 2016-07-03 05:44:17 Post No. 8234953
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Purpose of reading Anonymous 2016-07-03 05:44:17 Post No. 8234953 [Report]

How is literature useful, and what payoff, if any, is there in reading?

I recently stumbled upon a research group whose goal it is to identify how literature is useful, and what readers actually get out of reading. Even reading popular things such as A Song of Ice And Fire; what is the purpose and the ultimate payoff? Would people really trudge through thousands of pages about dragons and swords if there wasn't some kind of payoff slightly greater than "I was entertained"?

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Anonymous 2016-07-03 05:45:07 Post No.8234957
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Anonymous 2016-07-03 05:45:07 Post No.8234957 [Report]

what?

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Anonymous 2016-07-03 05:47:27 Post No.8234963
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Anonymous 2016-07-03 05:47:27 Post No.8234963 [Report]

It's a brain exercise

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Anonymous 2016-07-03 05:51:08 Post No.8234968
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Anonymous 2016-07-03 05:51:08 Post No.8234968 [Report]

>>8234953
>being this utilitarian
degrading the time spent enjoying yourself to "I was entertained" is weak.
if anything, you're degrading yourself moreso than the activity you're engaged in.

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Anonymous 2016-07-03 05:57:15 Post No.8234982
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Anonymous 2016-07-03 05:57:15 Post No.8234982 [Report]

>>8234968

It's not that being entertained is not in itself a fine goal, but it doesn't seem clear why people love reading fiction rather than nonfiction.

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Anonymous 2016-07-03 06:20:19 Post No.8235028
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Anonymous 2016-07-03 06:20:19 Post No.8235028 [Report]

>>8234953
Useful to what?

Put your ideological cards on the table m8

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Anonymous 2016-07-03 06:27:18 Post No.8235041
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Anonymous 2016-07-03 06:27:18 Post No.8235041 [Report]

>>8234982
>why people love reading fiction rather than nonfiction

there is no distinction for most purposes. fiction is also constructed to be engaging in a way reality often resists.

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Anonymous 2016-07-03 06:29:27 Post No.8235047
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Anonymous 2016-07-03 06:29:27 Post No.8235047 [Report]

>>8234953
What other pay-off do you want? Fleeting moments of enjoyment are as good as it gets in this world, friend.