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Why do we like reading fiction?

U

unbiased

Senior member
Knowledgable people say that we laugh because we express our cocern vocally about something amiss but not very serious and we like listening to music because we like order or certainty instead of chaos.

My question is 'Why do we like reading / listening to stories/fiction?
 
Your basic question of why people like stories probably has something to do with the alleviation of boredom and misery. Once we evolved brains that could think in the abstract we were able to conceive that things might not be the way they are, but instead could be some other way. That allowed us to be dissatisfied with the status quo, and to desire change. Stories are a way of experiencing something other than that status quo.
 
Originally posted by: unbiased
Knowledgable people say that we laugh because we express our cocern vocally about something amiss but not very serious and we like listening to music because we like order or certainty instead of chaos.

My question is 'Why do we like reading / listening to stories/fiction?
Click to expand...
Stories can sometimes tell us the truth more easily than "reality" just as music can tell us the truth more easily than everyday noise.
 
My question is 'Why do we like reading / listening to stories/fiction?
Click to expand...
Sorry, but I do not like to read.
Sorry, but I do not like to listen to stories.
Sorry, but I just can't stand fiction..ugh..vomit.
---------------------------------------------------------
So what does that make me ??
Don't call me an ignorant idiot, because I have 2 college degrees.
But I just don't like to read and fiction kills me.
-------------------------------------------------------
So perhaps you should rephrase your post to..

Why do some people like to read....??

 
I think, for many people, reading fiction is a way of expanding your intellectual experiences in ways that might not be possible otherwise. To use myself as an example, I tend to enjoy fiction of the fantasy and sci-fi variety. The stories themselves bring up a lot of interesting ideas and thoughts that just wouldn't occur to me in rest of my life. It's not pure chance that a lot of the inventions we enjoy today were first discussed in sci-fi, most notably the concept of orbiting transmitters around the earth.

Our brains are very adept at going off in all sorts of different directions depending on the input, an fiction is just another way to expand that input beyond our normal set of experiences.
 
I prefer reading non-fiction. There's so much interesting non-fiction, I get the same entertainment value and actually learn something in the process.
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
I prefer reading non-fiction. There's so much interesting non-fiction, I get the same entertainment value and actually learn something in the process.
Click to expand...

Learning things is overrated 😉

I'm kind of kidding, but think about it for a second, how many famous intellects do we remember because they were really good at learning a lot of things? While not all of us want to be Einstein, the same principle applies.
 
I think its mostly that we have the ability to empathise with other people, and our brains will do it even if those people arent even real. So, when you read a non-fiction story, in a small way you can feel the emotions and such of the main character, so its kind of like getting to experience something you would never get to in real life. Personally books just don't really do it for me, I prefer movies (i guess some woudl say that makes me stupid or something, but I honestly find it hard to get emotionally invested in 90% of books I try to read, so I end up dumping them after 50 pages or so). At least in a movie even if the director sux and you don't care about the characters you have mindless sex and violence to keep you interested 😛.
 
Originally posted by: Rainsford
I think, for many people, reading fiction is a way of expanding your intellectual experiences in ways that might not be possible otherwise. To use myself as an example, I tend to enjoy fiction of the fantasy and sci-fi variety. The stories themselves bring up a lot of interesting ideas and thoughts that just wouldn't occur to me in rest of my life. It's not pure chance that a lot of the inventions we enjoy today were first discussed in sci-fi, most notably the concept of orbiting transmitters around the earth.

Our brains are very adept at going off in all sorts of different directions depending on the input, an fiction is just another way to expand that input beyond our normal set of experiences.
Click to expand...

I second that.
And I add, I like sci-fi/fantasy because it is a separation from reality. And some of the best sci-fi contain concepts that could possibly be seen as becoming reality, however far off it might be.

But it's that separation from reality that I need. Life is so often cruel and callous. Life often has no "happy ending". Why would I want to read about reality, or watch a depressing movie, when I get the full dose from life itself?

Let me get away for a bit. That's one of the main reasons I read.
 
Originally posted by: unbiased
Knowledgable people say that we laugh because we express our cocern vocally about something amiss but not very serious and we like listening to music because we like order or certainty instead of chaos.
Click to expand...

Overintellectualized nonsense.

If all experiences could be defined in terms of other ones, there would be no need for them, and no novelty. You cannot define humour in terms of "concern". You cannot define music in terms of "order". You can understand these well with direct experience. Try introspection instead, and don't substitue intellect for feeling.
 
Originally posted by: Madwand1
Originally posted by: unbiased
Knowledgable people say that we laugh because we express our cocern vocally about something amiss but not very serious and we like listening to music because we like order or certainty instead of chaos.
Click to expand...

Overintellectualized nonsense.

If all experiences could be defined in terms of other ones, there would be no need for them, and no novelty. You cannot define humour in terms of "concern". You cannot define music in terms of "order". You can understand these well with direct experience. Try introspection instead, and don't substitue intellect for feeling.
Click to expand...

I have really enjoyed the varried explanations and am thankful to you all.

Madvand1, you might think it nonsense but it is a fact that everything we like is somehow linked with the survival of our species. That is why I asked this question to get an inventory of views.
 
Originally posted by: bendixG15
My question is 'Why do we like reading / listening to stories/fiction?
Click to expand...
Sorry, but I do not like to read.
Sorry, but I do not like to listen to stories.
Sorry, but I just can't stand fiction..ugh..vomit.
---------------------------------------------------------
So what does that make me ??
Don't call me an ignorant idiot, because I have 2 college degrees.
But I just don't like to read and fiction kills me.
-------------------------------------------------------
So perhaps you should rephrase your post to..

Why do some people like to read....??
Click to expand...

It's the primary (fine secondary if you count the horizontal manbo) form of entertainment before the electric age. It moved your head ouf of the 'I have to get milk, eggs, bread. What else am I missing' framework into a completely different one, relaxing really.

 
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