Reading And The Future

Reading in the future.

 Before TV and even before Radio, one of the primary forms of entertainment when it came to people getting their entertainment was through reading... And I am not talking about reading say a, 'Magazine' or something... Although the type of magazine that I am talking about... Which I would say are the ones that we see every day, were just starting to come out in the tale end of the 19th century... (Stuff that closely approximates: Mad Magazine, and stuff like, 'Fangoria' and the like...

Now reading has maintained itself for the most part well in to the 20th century... The problem is, is that with more interactive mediums, reading has become less and less popular...

Well you know, I have heard people say, and have read about how some believe that reading a good book as a way to get your education, should be replaced by more interactive forms of media, stuff like, Movies, Video Games, and other sort of media...(To keep children motivated to continue to learn...)

Educational video games have their place, but should not replace a good book!

Well the truth is folks, is that is the wrong way to go! Don't get me wrong, it does have certain positive applications for getting one's education... And I imagine that at least to some extent that the worlds youngest (which I suspect have some of the shortest attention spans out there.) But the truth is, is that if you give in to the concept of a 15 or 16 year old and giving him an, 'educational video game' probably won't help him when he or she is trying to study, 'math' or the like... I mean what can you do? Give kids a XBox 1 game called, 'Call Of Duty: Modern Education'? I suspect they will probably end up not learning anything, and going for the more violent aspects of that series!

Now again, all of that stuff has it's applications in the classroom... I,e. Having kids just going to to school playing educational games, and documentaries have always been able to help educate people on various problems that the world faces, or some of the more exotic, and awesome aspects of what this world has to offer... In the end though, non of those can replace a good book!

I hate to say it, but from a text book stand point, books are straight forward... If you are learning say... Math... Then you will learn math... And not something secondary... As far as movies go, Hollywood is notorious for exaggerating their movies, and if you are thinking that you maybe able to learn Shakespeare's original, 'Hamlet' from say, 'Mel Gibson' (which he did do in the 90s), then you should expect certain over the top dramatizations!

Mel Gibson as, 'Hamlet'... A fun movie, but should not be considered an educational standard... 

And as a form of entertainment... More so then ever, books are an important entertainment medium...  What do I mean by this? Well simply put, Movies give it to you... What I mean by this is that it takes away the viewers imagination... Before I continue, let me ask you guys this... Have you guys ever read a book and then seen the movie... And where as the movie was fun, the book was truly memorable? If so... Then good!

For me, that was, 'Christine'... Not one of Stephen King's bigger movies... or books for that matter, but in all truth, the movie was fun, with a great cast, and even better story... Well the truth is, is before I ever saw the movie I read the book when I was in boarding school, and I have to say that reading this novel was so much fun, that it was one of the few times when I would literally just sit in the class room for hours after they closed it down for the day!

I loved that movie... Still do... I have the movie on both VHS and DVD, I also have the book, and the movie poster signed by: John Carpenter (Halloween)... But as fun as the movie was, I will never forget  the many hours I spent just sitting there reading that book in the drafty classroom!

Christine... A great movie... An even better book!

In the end, I guess what I am saying is this... Don't let the future of reading... Really the future of books be a dismal one... Books and reading in general have been one of the most important (and yet sorely underrated) advancements mankind has ever had, and with the advancement of technology, lets not have reading or books in general disappear in to the ether!

The Continued Importance Of A Good Book In A Visual World

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="508"] Reading a book, and going out doors can some times have some intense benefits![/caption]

More often then not these days... (I know this to be true, because this was starting to become a problem when I was a kid), but the epidemic of people turning to Movies, TV & Video Games for their entertainment, and turning away from things like, 'Books', 'Magazines', 'the Newspaper', and heck even the outdoors! for their entertainment!

Don't get me wrong when I say that things like, 'Video Games', 'TV' and even, 'Movies' are a problem... For the most part they shouldn't be, I mean take it from me, a person who is a fan of all of those mediums... They should not be a problem!

Well the truth is, is that even though they aren't inherently... 'evil'... They do pose a problem... You see, the more TV or Movies people watch, or the more Video Games that you play, the less you are likely to use the ultimate projection system... Your imagination!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="305"] The human imagination is the ultimate entertainment center![/caption]

What do I mean by this?

Well let's take books for example, writers of the great American novels can give the reader a chance to explore strange new worlds, or horrifying and electrifying situations in a level of detail that you don't commonly get to see in movies, or on TV, or while playing Video Games...

Because while watching a Movie or a TV show or even playing a Video Game can be a fun way to pass the time, these mediums lay it all out for you... But a good book, while giving a detailed description of the setting and the people in the novel, if the writer is good enough, he or she will keep enough hidden so that they leave something to the imagination!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="217"] The Stand is a great example of a great movie, but an even better book![/caption]

I guess what I am trying to say is this, while I completely love Movies, Video Games and a good round of TV, I am saying this, why not set the remote down or the controller down, and why not go outside... See what the world has in store for you? And if you don't want to go outside, then why not crack open a good book, or open up that e-Reader and loose yourself in the myth and wonder of a good fantasy novel, or the savage terror of a great horror novel, or heck, the vacuum of space like in a great Sci-fi novel?

Trust me when I say this... I doubt you will regret it, and I think you might find a new source of entertainment that could last you a life time!