Why should we read books frequently? | Hacker News Reader

Why should we read books frequently?

4 pointsCaelus93 comments

If a person does not read books, then his values are determined by the people around him, because he has no other input channels, he can only imitate the people around him, or slowly be changed by the environment, follow what is popular around him, and never find himself. Reading is to enrich your soul. Even if you don’t remember the content of the books you have read, they still exist in your conversation, in your temperament, in the boundlessness of your mind and the breadth of your spirit. Books are ladders to upward, good medicine for healing, a good way to enlighten wisdom, and a dojo for awakening the mind.

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I’ve thought about it more seriously. There are two kinds of professionals:

- Technicals – coders, scientists, engineers, artists, builders, etc. - Non-technicals – business people, marketers, writers, policy folks, ops, etc.

There are also two broad skillsets:

- Technical skills – like coding, design, architecture, engineering. - Non-technical skills – and the core of all of these is communication.

The foundation of communication is language. Reading or listening to books, and building core knowledge are how people become strong communicators.

Many of the most successful tech professionals are not just highly skilled technically — they’re also at least above average in communication.

Those who lack communication skills tend to fail — especially in non-technical roles, but sometimes even in technical ones.

That’s why reading and listening to books isn’t optional — it’s essential. Whether you’re in marketing, product, or engineering, communication is a core part of the job.

I'll steelman against you. Books are inherently neutral in nature, and can be used to spread corrupt or indignant ideas in the same way movies or music can be propagandized. The key operand is the individual, who exercises their personal judgement as a composite of their personal experiences and their interpretations of fiction and history.

Say we had two heirs to a monarchy: one who never read a book in his life, and the other who was exclusively allowed to interpret Mein Kampf and The Fountainhead to formulate their political ideologies. Would the reader really be the more intelligent, grounded leader? Would their surrogate, vicarious experiences in literature give them an advantage over someone who synthesizes their judgement from nothing but personal experience?

Reading a book is like letting someone else think with your brain.

This can be good.

It can also be bad.

The best part is that we can choose which books we read.

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