Why We Need Books More Than Ever

In 2017 reading books is more important than ever. In a world where social media, news sound bites, and unfiltered political Tweets, clutter our thought processes, reading books allows us to quiet our minds, focus, and think. Reading books gives us a great gift — the gift of knowledge and critical, clear thinking.

When I headed off to college, I hit a bad funk. I was at war — with myself, uncertain about God, faith, and meaning. And I had no outlet for all the questions stacking up inside me. Amid this struggle, a friend gave me a well-worn copy of Man’s Search for Meaning. It changed my life. It told the story of Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist who was deported during at the height of his career, to a German concentration camp during World War II. Beneath his coat he hid his only copy of an unpublished manuscript. But in one instant this manuscript, his life’s work, was taken from him and destroyed. He could have given up, as many of the prisoners chose to do, but Frankl decided to find meaning in this event. He learned — and taught me — that we can’t escape tragedy, but we can control how we think about it, we can find meaning in it, and we can move forward. Books can serve as a life raft during hard times. This one did for me.

Books can show us how to live and how to answer the existential questions we face. Where did we come from? What is our purpose? What is good, and what is evil? What happens when we die? I learned to be inquisitive from dozens of Nancy Drew mysteries; to care about others, from Scout and Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, how to stand tall in the face of danger from Anne Frank. Books unlock the door to the wisdom of others.

Psychologist Keith Oatley argues that our stories are “the flight simulators of human social life.” When we read books, fiction or nonfiction, we travel through all kinds of experiences in the same way that a pilot travels through a flight on a simulator. We watch characters face difficult situations and overcome them. We feel what they are feeling, and we learn from them. Our books become our teachers. In today’s world, we need them more than ever.

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