“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” Cicero
Bookworms, take heart! Not only is there evidence that reading books makes people more empathetic and mentally agile, but researchers have found a significant link between reading books and living longer.
Here’s the scoop: Researchers studied data gathered between 1992 and 2012 from Americans 50 years old and over. When controlled for age, sex, race, level of education, wealth, marital status, and depression, books emerged as a key factor determining lifespan. Worth noting: magazines and newspapers did not produce the same result.
What’s at work here? Researchers speculate that the challenging nature of books — their absorbing narratives, complex characters, and sustained length — all contribute to people’s ability to develop enhanced cognitive skills, such as recalling information.
It is these cognitive abilities, boosted by book reading, that show a positive correlation with increased lifespan. That’s correlation — not direct causation — but hey, all this is still good news for scriveners.
OK, reading makes you more empathetic. And sharper. It provides role models. It satisfies the need for mythic heroes and heroines. It improves the ability to puzzle out complex relationships. It helps you visualize. It ignites your imagination.
What more do we need to convince us that words matter, writing matters, we matter? So energized and emboldened, let’s all write on!
