Can you gain good intelligence alone by reading.?

Answer 1

I think reading helps heighten intelligence. Vocabulary expansion is the most obvious. Reading also teaches about the books themselves. Knowing about writers and novels is never a bad thing. It even helps in having conversations with anyone so long as there is a mutual interest in reading. Nonfiction writing can yield a completely different variety of conversational topics and useful knowledge. Also, I read in Psychology Today that some research showed that reading contributed to emotional intelligence if the material was fictional. They described how, but I don't remember. Honestly, I'm not sure if I believe it. I used to read so much when I was young, but I don't really consider my emotional intelligence to be very high. But there is always the exception to the rule.

Answer 2

You can read Shakespeare every day for the rest of your life, and be no smarter the last day as the first.

Reading is only part of what makes a person intelligent. Understanding the context and subtext of what you are reading is a far greater measure.

This is not to say that, on the first day you read 'Macbeth', that the idea that the play is about some idiot who got tricked into killing his king to become king is wrong. It's more like, yes it is mainly about that, but what does that say, for example, about how people can be manipulated into seeing and/or believing what they want to see? What does it say about the individual's role in choosing a course of action: is it pre-determined, fully within their power, or some combination thereof?

In some ways, reading should be like peeling an onion: everytime you think you've gotten all there is to get out of it, you find another layer, another way of looking at/understanding the world. If you read a book 7 times, and can only come away with the same idea all 7 times, how does that make you (and your intelligence) grow?

Answer 3

Do you mean to say...

Can you gain intelligence by reading alone?

If that's what you mean? Some people can and some can't. Brains function differently.

I happen to be the type of person who prefers learning by reading... Some people have to be shown, some people require both in order to comprehend something fully so it varies.

I find that in some cases... People with excellent spatial ability, learn easier by reading than those with poor dexterity. That is just a personal observation though and I don't know for sure how true it is or isn't?

Answer 4

Reading and comprehending what you read is a good way to start. However, it is also important to know how to apply the knowledge to your life. Also, speaking and learning from intelligent people will help. Life experiences are also important to gaining knowledge.

Answer 5

Reading builds your vocabulary and your knowlege base, yes but I don't think you gain 'intelligence'. Read about things that interest you and you will retain the info, if you read about topics that don't interest you, you won't likely remember the details after the book is finished (if you finish it).

Answer 6

I wouldn't say 'intelligence', but reading can increase your vocabulary as well as improve your grammar. Reading can also sharpen your memory.

Answer 7

most definately! i read a lot and i learn new things from reading. even story books have facts in them that you may not know. plus you can read magazines that have a lot of facts and information.

thats why schools have textbooks, theyre packed with things to learn.

Answer 8

not reading only, but experimentation, experience and lots of questions. reading usually is how you get your brain jump started.

Answer 9

you gain it by reading all the words and understanding them fully. and your vocabulary grows bigger and bigger.

Answer 10

no- i read loads, and im still stupid. i read good stuff too, like austen, shakespeare and dickens, but it's not helping very much...im failing at college.