Choose flipping a page over scrolling
For most of my 20’s and early 30s, I struggled mightily with insomnia. Rolling around for hours in bed is no fun whatsoever. My sleeping routine? Work, read the news or research papers then scroll. Rinse and repeat.
In the past few years, however, I became very immersed in science fiction books. My gateway books were from the Dune series (Frank Herbert), then I quickly became a fan of the Hyperion series (Dan Simmons). It was an escape from the world I knew (with real-life consequences and all) into imaginary, exciting, and fun worlds. Funny enough, I also noticed a major improvement to my insomnia. How come? I certainly wasn’t bored to sleep by the books that I was reading, so what was happening on the inside?
It turns out: A WHOLE LOT. While the act of reading feels the same, the differences between reading news vs. fiction are quite profound. Studies suggest a correlation between reading fiction and a slight increase in cognition and empathy vs participants that read much less or read non-fiction books. A couple recent articles talk about this in more detail[1, 2].
Beyond what it is happening at the molecular level, there are certainly other downstream benefits that are particularly helpful for parents:
You can share the joy of reading with your kids.
You can help your kids disconnect from social media by enjoying reading time together.
Practice what your preach. You can’t tell your kids to get off the computer, then continue your doom scrolling.
For sci-fi lovers: sci-fi writers are some of the most imaginative people out there, as they need to build whole worlds and sometimes interplanetary societies, as well as new technologies. Your kids could be inspired by those worlds and maybe one day make some of those things happen in real life!
WHAT you read actually matters! If you really want to find enjoyment, pick up a fiction book and immerse yourself in a new world for a break from our current world!
Reading News vs. Fiction: What does the Science say?
Different parts of the brain are stimulated, and hence different chemicals are released. Claude and I put together a table below to better highlight the differences in how different reading habits rewire your brain, chemistry and behavior:
