mmm paywalled article with no conclusion in comments
entertainmentlord on
Reading helps brain, Audiobooks help brain. Simple as that
Feels really stupid to try and discount one form over the other
Massive_Durian296 on
its the only way some people will ever consume a book. so if at the end of the day they’ve consumed it, then thats a net positive no matter how you look at it imo
mrjane7 on
Nope, they’re the same. There, saved you a click.
sufferin_sassafras on
They engage different parts of the brain in different ways. Ideally, if able, people should do both more active reading and active listening.
The biggest conclusion to take away from this debate is that engaging your brain in any kind of active task like: reading a book, listening to an audiobook, playing a game, listening to music, writing, or creating art is a good thing.
And the more often and in more varied ways you engage your brain the better!
Plus_Room5740 on
If you’re reading along with the audiobook, I feel like it is more than fine. You allow yourself to build up images faster and see the way harder words are pronounced. I remember when it was trending wayyy back for people to fall asleep to videos that would just repeat insightful yet difficult words because apparently hearing it was a good way to render it into your brain so surely its the same with hearing tricky words and advanced terminology through audiobooks?
bravehamster on
I don’t think reading while driving would be particularly good for my brain.
Portarossa on
Not if you’re driving, which is when I do most of my audiobook listening.
Wrapping your car around a tree because you were trying to juggle a hardback has been proven to have very poor outcomes for neurological health.
WiseBelt8935 on
Paywalled, so I’ll just insert my own reality. Why does it matter either way?
When someone’s listening to music, do you slap them upside the head and tell them to grab a cello or it’s not good for them? When someone’s watching a movie, do you slap them upside the head and tell them they have to read the script or it’s not good for them?
Of course not. People read for enjoyment for the stories not to “improve” their brains.
Admirable_Rice23 on
One of the first novels I ever read was “The Hobbit” and then “lord of the rings” trilogy. i reaqd them probably ten+ times as a kid, my dad actually bribed me 5 bucks for each book I read so I got into them and never looked back
20+ yrs later, I was in a car reading “the battle of helms deep” in LOTR and I legit did not recall it, at all! This shcokingly-cool and beautiful cave full of crystals etc, this huge battle, but somehow I’d glossed-over it entirely every single time I read it!
My eyes are getting sketchy so I do audiobooks a lot more however, a lot of the people who seem to criticize them go “I got distracted and missed an hour of the book!” Brujh, I do the same thing while actually pysically reading a book, why are you so upset?
When I miss a thing in an audiobook I simply rewind, hit “play” and try to concentrate on the thing I missed – unless something else is more important IRL so I toally-miss-it and have to rewind it again.
I feel that rewinding a book beuase I missed a portion is better than buying a new book and pretendingn I read it all 100%.. I worked with a guy who I mentioned I’d done the “52 books in 52 weeks” challenge, and he aggresively bragged that HE WAS READING 60+ BOOKS AT THE SAME TIME!
Eventually I got hold of his phone and saw what he was reading, it was all lit-RPG freebie books and he couldn’t even finish one, so he pretended that reading several-dozen books at the same time was proof that he was SUPER SMART! Arrogant dumbarse loser, irl. He loved to brag about how cool and important he was however when you looked up the stuff he would list as his CV, it was all really small-time non-profit homeless-camps etc, he was jusrt a weird arrogant nerd who liked to dress up in SCA and pretend at work that he was my boss.
HudsonBunny on
I have no data, only opinion. But if you can focus just as well listening to the content as reading it, I would think the stimulus is the same. Personally I find my mind drifting when I listen to books, podcasts, etc. I’m a very visual person.
12 Comments
What did the article say?
mmm paywalled article with no conclusion in comments
Reading helps brain, Audiobooks help brain. Simple as that
Feels really stupid to try and discount one form over the other
its the only way some people will ever consume a book. so if at the end of the day they’ve consumed it, then thats a net positive no matter how you look at it imo
Nope, they’re the same. There, saved you a click.
They engage different parts of the brain in different ways. Ideally, if able, people should do both more active reading and active listening.
The biggest conclusion to take away from this debate is that engaging your brain in any kind of active task like: reading a book, listening to an audiobook, playing a game, listening to music, writing, or creating art is a good thing.
And the more often and in more varied ways you engage your brain the better!
If you’re reading along with the audiobook, I feel like it is more than fine. You allow yourself to build up images faster and see the way harder words are pronounced. I remember when it was trending wayyy back for people to fall asleep to videos that would just repeat insightful yet difficult words because apparently hearing it was a good way to render it into your brain so surely its the same with hearing tricky words and advanced terminology through audiobooks?
I don’t think reading while driving would be particularly good for my brain.
Not if you’re driving, which is when I do most of my audiobook listening.
Wrapping your car around a tree because you were trying to juggle a hardback has been proven to have very poor outcomes for neurological health.
Paywalled, so I’ll just insert my own reality. Why does it matter either way?
When someone’s listening to music, do you slap them upside the head and tell them to grab a cello or it’s not good for them? When someone’s watching a movie, do you slap them upside the head and tell them they have to read the script or it’s not good for them?
Of course not. People read for enjoyment for the stories not to “improve” their brains.
One of the first novels I ever read was “The Hobbit” and then “lord of the rings” trilogy. i reaqd them probably ten+ times as a kid, my dad actually bribed me 5 bucks for each book I read so I got into them and never looked back
20+ yrs later, I was in a car reading “the battle of helms deep” in LOTR and I legit did not recall it, at all! This shcokingly-cool and beautiful cave full of crystals etc, this huge battle, but somehow I’d glossed-over it entirely every single time I read it!
My eyes are getting sketchy so I do audiobooks a lot more however, a lot of the people who seem to criticize them go “I got distracted and missed an hour of the book!” Brujh, I do the same thing while actually pysically reading a book, why are you so upset?
When I miss a thing in an audiobook I simply rewind, hit “play” and try to concentrate on the thing I missed – unless something else is more important IRL so I toally-miss-it and have to rewind it again.
I feel that rewinding a book beuase I missed a portion is better than buying a new book and pretendingn I read it all 100%.. I worked with a guy who I mentioned I’d done the “52 books in 52 weeks” challenge, and he aggresively bragged that HE WAS READING 60+ BOOKS AT THE SAME TIME!
Eventually I got hold of his phone and saw what he was reading, it was all lit-RPG freebie books and he couldn’t even finish one, so he pretended that reading several-dozen books at the same time was proof that he was SUPER SMART! Arrogant dumbarse loser, irl. He loved to brag about how cool and important he was however when you looked up the stuff he would list as his CV, it was all really small-time non-profit homeless-camps etc, he was jusrt a weird arrogant nerd who liked to dress up in SCA and pretend at work that he was my boss.
I have no data, only opinion. But if you can focus just as well listening to the content as reading it, I would think the stimulus is the same. Personally I find my mind drifting when I listen to books, podcasts, etc. I’m a very visual person.