Why do books and reading matter in a world where AI can seemingly do everything for us, in the blink of an eye?

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

Login or signup to continue reading

Well, it turns out reading matters in some surprising ways. Researchers have found that just 30 minutes of reading a day can lower blood pressure, heart rate and feelings of psychological distress. Other research has found that regular readers have lower levels of loneliness and are less likely to experience depression. One study even found that people who read books for 30 minutes a day had a 20 per cent reduction in mortality compared with those who didn't read.

But I think reading matters even more to us as a society than it does to us as individuals.

Books allow us to experience lives that may be completely different from our own. This can make us more tolerant, open and empathetic - great qualities for a kinder, more connected and compassionate society. Deep reading also asks us to concentrate on complex ideas rather than reacting to the short, sensational fragments that increasingly fill our screens.

And now that AI can give us information and answers almost instantly, we need the intellectual and emotional stretch books give our minds.

Because AI can't decide for us what is worth caring about. It can't replace the experience of sitting with a complex idea, seeing the world through someone else's eyes and allowing our thinking to change. All of which matters if we want a more informed, thoughtful and engaged citizenry.

Besides, books can do something really extraordinary. They can change what we think we know - and what we think is possible.

Think Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which brought the environmental and health consequences of widespread pesticide use into public........

© Canberra Times