Deep reading has the ability to fuel empathy and overall sensitivity, especially when it comes to works of fiction. Unfortunately, with so much technology surrounding us these days, scientists worry that each generation is straying further away from these benefits. Not only does the absence of reading promote a lack of empathy, but it can actually impact how we consolidate memories. Not being able to participate in deep reading practices could end up decreasing our ability to retain information.
Key Takeaways:
- Data has revealed that reading does more than develop cognitive skills, as it also supports the emotional skill of empathy.
- Empathy occurs because readers find themselves immersed in a world with different challenges and characters with whom they come to identify.
- Reading is not an innate neural skill, rather the brain repurposes visual cortex skills to make sense of letters.
“Wolf started off by explaining to an audience of educators and neuroscientists that the human brain wasn’t made to read. Rather, “when the brain has to learn something new, it creates a new circuit, and that’s what reading does,” explained Wolf, who authored the book “Reader Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World.””
Read more: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-02-18-reading-fuels-empathy-do-screens-threaten-that
