3 Reasons Why Reading is Superior to Netflix (& Other Television)

Don’t get me wrong here. There’s a reason why the term “netflix & chill” has come to invade the social media trend by storm. Life has become easier in the sense that we have the privileges to sit ourselves down after a long day at work and have a new show to indulge ourselves to tick away the hours. (& by doing so, avoiding the existential void that would be looming right above us. Don’t look into it.) However, as a currently subscribed netflix member, it’d occurred to me one day that there must be something more to it. Something felt missing. It dawned on me that, after several exposures to taking the G Train to court square that maybe all these similarly aged millennials were onto something as they held a rail in one hand and a book in the other. Did I feel like an uncultured woman? Let’s be honest, a good proportion of us these days do read. We read textbooks, how-tos, and even digital news articles that sometimes have us questioning its validity and sources. But picking up a book at your bookstore for the full price of 20.99 for a hardcover? Outrageous. There’s a reason why my neighborhood Barnes & Nobles has been replaced with a furniture store. I haven’t read a classic since taking the last english course in my college electives. But having discovered a used bookstore at my local neighborhood, I realized buying a couple of donated books cost less than a drink in gentrified Brooklyn or Manhattan. I started questioning my priorities and allocation of money after this. So, after a quick observation, this is what I have realized after years of never picking up a book:

1. It reconnects you with your imagination.

When we watch a television program, we are engaging in a creation, otherwise known as some director’s imagined scenario of a situation. But what about our own? Shows leave little to the imagination. We are being presented with a full blown nude instead of a seductive, mysterious and dimly lit image of a torso. Little to the imagination means that we immediately got the text back from a potential love interest. There was no anxiety, and admittingly very little thrill. Television shows are presented with actors, scenery, sounds, and spoken word. We no longer need to fill in our own pictures, so to speak. The quiet allure of opening up a book is how personal it feels when we are letting our mind operate to its own devices and preference.

2. A better bedtime activity than scrolling through your insta-feed

Whether it’s a harmless casual check up on your ex or close friends or almost obsessive stalking of a love interest or celebrity, we all do it. Our smartphones have made it easy for us to scroll through click bait articles, pictures of food by self proclaimed food experts, and snippets of video documenting the daily life of that random guy that you added on snapchat months ago. Personally, being so involved in the outside world is a staple for extroverts like me. But even the most people person need a break. Instead of being bombarded with real life right before you drift off to sleep, why not have dreams about that book you just read another chapter of? Let’s all do ourselves a favor and not make it about us or our immediate friends and family for a sec. We’ve been dealing with them the whole day and those fictional characters deserve a place in our minds too. Not to mention the natural radiation from the glare of our phones would keep us awake, reducing our regular sleep cycle. No thanks, insomnia.

3. Actual physical benefits like getting smarter and improved vocabulary

Once we get back into the ease of reading, it becomes less of a chore and more of a hobby. So long are the days we are getting forced to read as part of our educational curriculum. If we don’t go out of our way to read from then on, it’s all on us. When someone asks? Simply reply in a rough condescending tone similar to that of an elementary school bully, “Reading is for losers.” Wait for reaction. Rinse and repeat. For the rest of us losers, we are actually stimulating our brain cells (combating risks like memory loss and future Alzheimer’s), becoming more emotionally attuned, and improving our vocabulary. Depending on the intended era of the book, we might even pick up an estranged dialect. Next time your friend tells you they are having a lit time, correct them confidently and provide them alternatives: Glee suggests an effervescenceof high spirits or exultation, often manifested in playful or ecstatic gestures. We are in high spirits!