![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: LeVar Burton Was Not Wrong 🌈📚
May. 26th, 2025 08:01 amIn my last post I casually said that “reading makes you smarter,” but it’s probably worth explaining what that means.
( Read more... )
So I’m not saying that reading will make you a “genius” at your field; only time and practice will do that. Rather, reading helps develop and maintain the basic cognitive skills associated with intelligence. Reading won’t turn you into a rocket scientist, but it will help you remember where you put your car keys.
ChatGPT and its ilk are, as they exist now, dumb as fuck. This is one of the many reasons why it’s distressing to see young people offload basic tasks and decisions onto what’s essentially a Magic 8 Ball. If I had to guess, though, I’d say that a lot of people actually need this cognitive crutch (such as it is) precisely because they’re no longer trained or encouraged to read. And, from where I’m standing, I can see an enormous gap in the performance of students who are able to read and the students who choose not to.
( Read more... )
So I’m not saying that reading will make you a “genius” at your field; only time and practice will do that. Rather, reading helps develop and maintain the basic cognitive skills associated with intelligence. Reading won’t turn you into a rocket scientist, but it will help you remember where you put your car keys.
ChatGPT and its ilk are, as they exist now, dumb as fuck. This is one of the many reasons why it’s distressing to see young people offload basic tasks and decisions onto what’s essentially a Magic 8 Ball. If I had to guess, though, I’d say that a lot of people actually need this cognitive crutch (such as it is) precisely because they’re no longer trained or encouraged to read. And, from where I’m standing, I can see an enormous gap in the performance of students who are able to read and the students who choose not to.
