There was a time when people wait for new book releases, visit nearby libraries every week, and read books before bed. However, this ritual has been replaced by other media consumptions, such as watching TV, watching Netflix, scrolling social media channels, and more. No one can deny that reading books are better than any media consumption, specifically watching TV. Many people prefer watching TV over reading a book because watching TV seems easier than reading words. Though, the benefits of reading are more dominant than watching TV. If you still want to fall into the debate of reading vs. watching tv, we have written this article for you. Here we have mentioned the significant reasons why books are better than tv. You can step through our given facts about reading books and compare them to TV.
1. Improve focus and concentration:
Do you know watching TV actually damages concentration habits? Yes! You read it right. TV is a passive activity in which you only relax and enjoy the show. You don’t need to use your imagination or creative skills to comprehend any scene of the show. In contrast, books propel you to multitask your brain by comprehending, translating, and imagining the scene. They make you use your mental muscles to strengthen your brain’s skills.
These activities help develop better concentration and focus. To prove our point, let us give you an example. We are barely aware of the scenes around us when we are reading any novel or literature with focus.
2. Improve vocabulary:
You must be thinking that TV shows have dialogues, so they better increase verbal abilities. However, it is true to only some extent. When we start comparing the benefits, books will be found better at improving verbal abilities. On TV, most scripts have short and simple sentences that can pitch at the 4th-grade level. However, books contain more complex and long sentences with versatile vocabulary. These elements make reading more beneficial in enhancing verbal abilities. It is the prime reason why experts suggest reading newspapers and adult novels to improve vocabulary easily.
3. Reading a great Exercise for Your Brain
Reading requires your complete focus and attention, so it propels the brain to function with better efficiency. Therefore, it is a great exercise for the brain that trains the brain to perform with robust concentration. However, you do not need to always pick the tough Shakespeare every time because it may be complex to understand by beginners. You can train your train by simply reading novels, storybooks, documentaries, etc. Reading will exercise your imagination, comprehension, vocabulary, and other brain function. Therefore, there is nothing better than simply reading your favorite books in your spare time.
4. Improve Your Imagination
According to some studies, children show a less imaginative response after watching a movie or show, rather than listening to or reading a story. When a kid reads or listens to a story, they create a vision and image of every scene and character in their mind. These imagination skills make kids more versatile in creativity because it broadens and improves brain function. However, watching a tv show turns off the imagination power because every scene has already been created by the director. Therefore, watching shows offer lesser opportunity to improve imagination power.
5. You Can Read Anywhere and anytime:
TV requires a cable connection or subscription to enjoy your favorite show. However, reading is much simpler and easier to avail anywhere and anytime. All you need is to buy your favorite book from the best online books store and carry the book anywhere to beat the boredom. Whether you are traveling, sitting in a garden, or getting bored in a long queue, your favorite book can get you through your spare time with the perfect ratio of entertainment, knowledge, and information.
6. Books are cheaper than TV
Watching TV cost you license fees, subscription fees, or one-off payment. However, books are relatively cheaper. You can simply get the membership of a library and access a great variety of books irrespective of book cost. Moreover, you can also buy second-and books at the best prices and make a good books collection at home. They also enhance your knowledge to a greater extent. If you can afford it, you can prefer buying hardcovers books to make your in-home library luxurious.
7. Effects on Memory:
Readers need to remember the characters and plotline to comprehend the story to the fullest. However, TV shows eliminate the need of remembering the plotline as they provide a visual feed for easy understandability. Moreover, they give a quick recap of the previous episode to let you recollect the story for better understanding. On the other hand, reading a book is the best mental exercise to improve the memory power of the brain. It trains the brain to memorize the different plots and link them to comprehend the story. Therefore, reading needs more focus and concentration to captivate the story. Once you develop good reading skills, you will notice better and more robust memory power with improved concertation.
8. Reduce Stress:
According to research, reading can reduce stress by a great percentage within just six minutes.
When you allow your brain to dive into the fiction story, the literary world make the anxieties away from your life. It works by relaxing the nerves, soothing muscle tension, and reducing the high heart rate. In contrast, watching TV may seem more entertaining but it may boost the stress due to failure and guilt feeling. The reason is that most people consider watching a movie a waste of time so there is always a guilt feeling at the end of screening time.
So, what are you waiting for? Add some books from your favorite genre and make a habit to read them daily to gain these benefits. Once you start adopting reading as daily activity, your brain will get trained to more skills and abilities.
