Good News About Fiction

I am extremely pleased to hear, via Stephen's Lighthouse (where the post title presciently states "you'll like this post"), that research suggests reading fiction is good for social skills. 

Call me an anti-social misfit because I was huddled in a corner with a book all the time, will you? (Being homeschooled didn't help, since everyone sort of assumes kids who aren't in school have no social skills, because clearly children will never encounter other human beings outside of a school setting and will therefore have no opportunity to interact with them.) 

Yeah, well, you're wrong, because I was learning about how people relate to each other and why they do things and so forth. To quote researcher Keith Oatley at the University of Toronto: 

"Fiction is really about how to get around in the social world, which is not as easy as one might think. ... People who read fiction give themselves quite a bit of practice in understanding that. And also, I think reading fiction sort of prompts one to think about these questions - you know, what are these people up to?"

I think this is pretty cool, and am interested to see what the researchers find next. As the article wonders, 

For example, most of their research has focused on fiction in general. But would they find similar effects if they looked at biographies? And do sci-fi tales about chasing aliens through the galaxy have the same benefits as Alice Munro's short stories about love and loss? And what parts of the brain are stimulated when literary simulation is in full effect?

I, for one, look forward to finding out more. 

So I'm pleased to hear that fiction (as well as nonfiction, which I also love and enjoy) is getting some respect, although I have to say, I was going to keep reading it anyway just because I like it, even if all the clever people scorned me for my low, intellectually crude tastes. 

I'm anti-social like that.