"'Only connect.'"
"Who said that?"
"An English novelist."
"He should not have said it. Fiction is the worst form of
connection."-The Magus ch.18
I had to add this quote to my blog because earlier in the semester we talked about how reading can effect empathy. The idea I got from that discussion is that reading, especially reading fiction, will make a person more empathetic- more likely and able to connect. Because isn't that what empathy is? Seeing and understanding the emotions of another person and being to connect to that?
I would argue that Conchis is wrong about this one. Yes, connecting, relating to others, and being part of something larger than yourself is important, but fiction is not the worst form of this connection. It may not be the best form of connection (personally I see face to face communication as the best form of connection because it allows for all of the senses to be involved) but it is not bad. It should instead be seen as a way to practice connection.
As young children most of us were read to. We heard stories that we grew to love (or hate) and immersed ourselves in the the words created by our parents voices. We became a part of the story and the characters became our friends. We were sad when the story was sad and excited when characters were excited. In essence we connected with these stories and mental worlds. In this way we learned how to connect to people more easily. In putting ourselves in the minds of the characters we experienced their feelings first hand and making an important jump from "this hurts me" to "if this hurts me it will probably hurt someone else too."
Here is a video I found below about one study done on children about reading and empathy:
I also think it is really interesting (and a conicidence :-) ) that later on in this video (7:30ish) Ramon talks about the funcition of fairy tales specifically as moral guides.
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