I've been a part of this forum for a long time, and I'm pretty sure—absolutely certain, in fact—that every day we see questions like 'What book changed your life?' or 'Which one shifted your perspective on the world?' I don't mean to offend those who answer these questions with the best of intentions, but giving a precise answer to such a broad question is challenging, to say the least.
So, I'd like to ask those who pose these questions, those who respond, or anyone who wonders why people look for a book to change their perspective on life: Personally, I think people often feel overwhelmed by their lives and want to leave that behind quickly. Reading is seen as a practice that always leads to growth, regardless of how critically someone reads, what they choose to read, or how they go about it.
As said Emerson I suppose no man can violate his nature. All the sallies of his will are rounded in by the law of his being, as the inequalities of the Andes and Himalayas are insignificant in the curve of the sphere.
by salbertengo
4 Comments
As someone who recently answered one of these questions: I like to read, so very, very occasionally I’ll read something that changes my thinking in a significant way. It’s not something I set out to find, like a grail quest or something.
Honestly, I think a lot of those posts, along with “What is the XYZ-est book you’ve ever read?” kind of posts, are one of four:
1. Some one’s lazy way to come up with content for a buzzfeed like article (“Top Ten Books that Readers Say Changed Their Life!”)
2. Comment bait since those kinds of posts tend to get the most comments and upvotes.
3. A way to have a quick and fun conversation around books with a post that would get taken down by the mods at r/books for being too cliched and overdone.
4. Posted by someone who is not very familiar with books/don’t read a lot and are genuinely curious about the power of books. Like is there really one book to rule them all? Is there a book out there that is so powerful that everyone will be like, “Yes, you *must* read this book”. Is there a book that is so scary/sad/funny/disturbing/whatever that a great majority of people will collectively agree that *this* is *the* book. (The answer is no, for anyone interested).
i love learning. i love trying to understand people – especially if those people have perspectives that will differ from mine. but really, at the end of the day, it’s just that love of learning and wanting to understand the world better. it’s a much more productive way to channel that “i have adhd, wikipedia, and no self-regulation techniques. time to fall into a rabbit hole.” urge, and it’s often a lot more subtle which i always love, ’cause then i get that “oh WOW” moment.
All of these answers, plus bots maybe. Those posts usually get a lot of engagement.