Nonfiction provides you knowledge. Direct and explicit, for better or for worse. Fiction provides you wisdom. Wisdom is learned through experience. Even second-hand experience, whether fictional or not, is better than any advice. It is second only to real experience. Of course, all with discretion and moderation.
@@AndreHarrisIi-zb8tx Wisdom is about embodying a lesson, not just knowing it. Deciphering and breaking down helps to understand something, but it doesn't help with taking it heart.
Nonfiction does not provide you knowledge. We need to stop thinking about nonfiction like this. Much of the popular nonfiction is fiction packed a nonfiction. It is self-help slop, surface-level low-research books like the latest by Jared Diamond. His books have been disgraced for decades and his current work has no research to back it up. If you want to gain knowledge, read academic texts, journals and highly regarded newspapers. The fiction/nonfiction dichotomy needs to be updated. There are valuable books and there is slop.
@thomascromwell6840 Honestly when I said nonfiction, I meant objective nonfiction like some of national geographic (even that's debatable I'm sure). I didn't give it much thought but yeah, nonfiction philosophical books simply aren't fiction, and you're definitely right that it means little for how useful it is haha. Same with fiction. Some don't have lessons, or don't do a good job at drilling them in.
You sold me on your argument when you said that the wisest people in humanity have been afraid to share their ideas, and that's why they've preferred to do it through stories, through characters who vicariously reflect their personal experiences, and thus share with the world the wisdom they acquired. Thank you!
i don't think they're afraid to share their ideas tho. it's such a weird point. it's an entirely different skill set, making fiction vs self-help. tolkien didn't write lotr bcs he was a coward, it's just worldbuilding and fiction is the media that he likes. shakespeare didn't write plays bcs he was afraid to write self-help books, he just likes writing plays
@@felix-xd4mx apart of tolkien is bilbo so in a sense yes he was. But bilbo found his courage. Being afraid and facing your fears is courage. Tolkien was alive during terrible war. Man alot of what he wrote definitely reflects different parts of his character what are you on about
@@BlackSun90 i don't agree with the idea of "fiction authors are afraid to share their ideas, so they prefer to share it through stories" i think that doesn't make sense to me. fiction authors just simply like fiction as a medium more. it's not like self-help authors are somehow "braver" than fiction authors. do u get it? tolkien was in the ww1 and faced his fears. BUT the idea of ppl who write fiction is AFRAID of sharing their ideas and therefore it is WHY they use fiction is wrong. the logic don't add up
“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.” - James Baldwin
Fiction is awesome because you can characterize philosophies/ideas that are too abstract to articulate directly. The best characters embody specific philosophies and ways of thinking, it’s so beautiful to read authors who can do this well
@CaptainCobbler I think perhaps there's a difference here between "someone who likes theories (especially scientific)" vs. "theorybros"? "Theorybros" strikes me as a title for a kind of person and personality, akin to "finance bros." Like, there's nothing wrong with being financially literate, or having a hobby of following some finance news, or working as an accountant. But "finance bro" is a type of person who makes "finance" much of their personality, tends to be condescending about it to others, and disparages many other uses of time as "worthless" compared to tracking stocks/reading finance editorials/etc. Many scientists also enjoy fiction, and that's pretty well-known, so I don't think that's what they meant here. My dad is a chemical engineer/polymer scientist, and loves fiction! He also loves all sorts of non-fiction, but "rejecting fiction as worthless" isn't a defining feature for him, or a feature of his at all.
This is great. My favorite example is nonfiction vs fiction is the difference between reading an account on the history of slavery and feeling the experience of being a slave.
nah its better to read an account of slavery, I like the over-arching Economics of Slavery, studying the prices, the total marketcap value of all enslaved persons, the land they worked on and the commodities produced and their value.
Definitely. I like non-fiction when I'm dialing in on a specific idea, but when a lesson is in a narrative format, it really sticks with you. There's a reason Albert Camus wrote not just The Myth of Sisyphus, but also the Stranger. Some lines or lessons about Absurd philosophy stand out in The Myth of Sisyphus, but the story of Meursault really drives home what it means to be an "absurd man" because you remember the chain of events. Great video!
Thanks bro! Camus has been on my reading list for a while, you may have convinced me to pick up 'the stranger' this weekend. right now i'm loving me a bit of kafka
As someone who read both years ago, I just realized that I could still re-tell you the story of the stranger (some chapters with details) but hardly anything about the myth of Sisyphus. I know what it was about, I remember my love/hate relationship with it, but don't ask me about the content. I mostly read non-fiction, usually as an introduction to a (to me new) topic in math or physics. There is however a difference in how much I remember (long term), depending on whether the books have narrative or not (doesn't matter if it's fictional or not).
The self help book cycle is literally so dangerous and easy to trap yourself in. I literally started hated reading (as an English major asw omg) because all I was reading is non fiction. I haven’t picked up a fiction book to read for fun in years. Thank you for this. Genuinely.
Anyone who reads valueable nonfiction(littrally anything other than self-help or pop trash) will be smart enough to immediately see the value in fiction.
@CaptainCobbler I, for myself, like reading scientific journals AND fiction books. You don't have to like one and dislike the other, they are not mutually exclusive. I know in the end it's just a matter of taste, but there's value in both types, since you can enjoy and learn from fiction and non-fiction as well. It also depends on what's the content and how well written the books and articles are, these are great factors in making someone like literature, be it fictional or not. Maybe you just haven't found a good fiction book that suits your tastes? If you like Physics (as you mentioned mechanics) a good old classic sci-fi story that tempers with time travel and how a spaceship works or simply a crazy inventor's story with their contraptions might interest you. I would suggest anyone that wants to give fiction books a go to start like this, with a simple, well written book about some concept you like, rather than just going straight to Alexandre Dumas, Shakespeare or any other big author they might recommend you, but that might also not be your cup of tea. In my opinion, just find some fiction that you would actually like first, and only when you feel like you are ready you should tackle those big names every says is a must read.
You categorically what? Did your fiction teach you those categories? Because it requires a lot of fiction to believe that literally reading isn't in the same category as reading.
@sherlockshlome473 reading scientific textbooks or papers is in a different metaphysical space in my mind, it is too different from reading fiction or other types of non fiction
The most important lesson I got from fiction is empathy. Empathy is not something that is lived or taught in my family, and we're not born with it, but I learned it anyway. Made me a cycle-breaker. PS: love the Buffy/Dr. Who clips
This is so true. It's not only about the authors being afraid of showing their own experiences. It's just that writing is like painting. The environment, other characters, etc., can become intellectual symbols.
But damn, Pedro Paramo is hard to read unless you can read Spanish well. I grew up with the language but not within a Spanish-speaking community (just through my mother) and I'm not sure I understood even 10% of what was going on. I think it's what led to my reading slump this year haha. I mean, yes, recommended. But read it in a language you can understand :P (I shall return to it when I've read some easier Spanish-language books)
gabriel garcia marquez produced the most boring slop to ever be written in this forsaken continent. I would rather read medicine ingredients. If you want actual latin american classics. try something of more substance like Machado de Assis
Clicked on this video so fast. I have read a bunch of self help books and don’t get me wrong they are helpful but nothing beats a good story that makes you think for yourself. That is rewarding
I am officially sold on the idea. It's so simple that l am embarrassed I hadn't thought of it myself. I find your points convincing and would start reading a lot of fiction, maybe even the majority of my books
ngl man ur advice changed my mind about READING . reading shouldn't neccessarily be used as a form of getting an idea for a life change but IT SHOULD BE FIRSTLY OUT OF ENTERTAINMENT AND CURIOSITY . i wish sum1 couldve told me that before and thank you for this video
I once received a self help book for birthday. It was so bad I legit didn't even keep it in my bookshelf and just threw it into the trash, still feel bad about the quality paper used to print that...
Absolutely true. REAL nonfiction is usually about specific subjects and by researchers and scientists (professional or otherwise), in the form of textbooks.
Fantastically explained. The "read what you are interested in" is what I had to learn last year when I was looking for fiction I could learn from and it was genuinely difficult to enjoy them.
I agree with this so much, I recently read my year of rest and relaxation, the last line of the book had so much weight because you spent the last 300 pages reading about this persons story. I feel as if there is a small movement of men realizing that fiction is what will actually give you that true insight into life
This was a great video! While I do like to learn from non-fiction, fiction specifically has changed who I am as a person immensely. I personally think it's the fastest and easiest way to grow mentally, and I love when people recommend others read
god, the number of times people have told me to stop reading fiction because “it’s for kids” and recommended some self-help shit instead. idk maybe self-help books work for some people but to me, they just seem like the same old advices paraphrased. fiction has so much range and versatility idk why anything involving creativity or imagination is immediately labelled as immature.
If you read self-help books for a decade that means you have not learned the lessons of the self help-genre. If you are smart you can learn that stuff by watching the right ten UA-cam videos and most other stuff is just a rewording of that. Of course implementing that stuff may take longer than it takes to watch those 10 UA-cam videos. But after you've watched them you already have the knowledge for how to change. You "just" have to do it.
Man, I have a feeling these same type of people watch sports or tv/movies frequently. Like, even if the fiction you are reading is somehow a tier below self help non-fiction, it's still going to be miles better than any of the former. I do wonder if this is just insecurity/projection on their part.
@@skyhideaway In terms of mental health and brain improvement, I do. As a form of art, maybe not always the case. Or am I misunderstanding, did I make a mistake? Sorry
Thank you so much for this video. I live in a culture where people generally are too lazy to read. Even if they do read, they don't read fiction. I mean, it's good to learn something from those academic books, but there is just something so special about getting immersed in a good storybook. I feel bad for those who never got the chance to see books as entertainment.
Thank you for this video and your wisdom too. Everything that is now indeed starts with storytelling and its life lessons. Fiction is indeed the start of everything that is now. Keep doing this content, and you'll never know how many people you'll be able to inspire.
Reading fiction is the only way to enter into the interior, subjective mental space of another person. It’s quite literally the only way to see what people are thinking, as opposed to what they’re saying and doing. (Which is often at odds with the interior mind.)
Thank you for making this video. This gives me hope, that there are people who care about reading in these current times when everyone wants you to believe that reading is outdated and doom-scrolling endlessly is the norm. On the topic of fiction vs non fiction all my life I have come across a great number of people who would take great pride in never having picked up fiction and sticking only to non fiction mostly self help crap. Their understanding of fiction was limited quite limited.
i grew up reading fiction novels for fun as many of us did although when i went off to college i put down fiction for academic works from History, Philosophy, Linguistics, Science, Psychology, etc. Those books certainly broadened my horizons and i still am passionate about those topics. Albeit reading those literatures, many of the times, felt like swallowing nails and it totally ruined my passion for reading in general. The themes i learned in those academic books are the exact same themes provided by authors in the various works of Sci-Fi and Fantasy that ive grown up reading as well. As you mentioned those people will scoff at fiction novels but then be profoundly amazed at the insightfulness of the movie version of the novel haha! If only they knew the irony in their ways right....
Amazing video!! I often don't like non-fiction for these exact reasons. Fictional books transport you to different settings and eras, that they stay with you better. Fictional books also allow you to experience things from different lenses and help your critical thinking skills. Good work, so glad I stumbled upon your video!!
Lots of good points in this video! Well done! Self-help books are a scam. For some people I would also give vice-versa advice: if you’re into fantasy and sci-fi books, don’t stop there and try some non-fiction equivalents. For example, not a single fantasy lore can be as deep as antique, medieval, renaissance or baroque history.
I’m not going to disagree with the theme of this 4:24 video essay that one should read fiction. I am however going to criticize the choice of 48 Laws of Power as the non-fiction book to criticize as an example of bad non-fiction. The book contains a number of anecdotes from history related to each law, and these are quite educational. Furthermore it weakens the premise of this essay to deny that learning from actual history is equally, and arguably, more useful than learning from fiction.
He should have used self-help books instead of fiction because reading meditations or when breath becomes air has impacted my point of view on my mortality and time
Good point in that the book he used as an example is one that relates all its points to things that actually happened in history. That's the best way to do nonfiction (relate it to real stories/examples).
You know that fiction most of the times inspires itself from reality and often it is set in some sort of historical frame (well you have fantasy that isnt ) but fiction could be more even precise and more mind widening than non fiction. Buy I think its a stupid argument they can be both usefull and very good for their own purpose for example the best way to learn about politics is to read non fiction essays like noam chomsky or inequality of societies... and for psychology the best is and will probably always be fiction with the likes of dostoeivski and way more . Even historical books sometimes are beaten by their fiction conterparts . You should just read from both and try to not compare them
I agree that fiction can be useful for making ideas and lessons more memorable, especially compared to a self-help book, but I don't think dissuading people from reading non-fiction is the way to go. Non-fiction isn’t just about self-help; it spans a wide range of subjects, including history, science, philosophy, art, and computer science. I find non-fiction a great way on getting informed about the world. Also consider that biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs can be just as moving and inspiring as fiction. They allow us to learn from the successes and mistakes of others and experience life through a different lens. I would recommend reading both.
i agree completely. for example, JFK by Fredrik Logevall has been a great read for me (taught me a lot). however it has been somewhat of a trend nowadays for people to consume non-fiction for the feel good factor it provides, rather than reading to apply that knowledge in the real world.
@forallthadogs To me, it seems like your point stands true mostly for 'Self-Help Books'. In which case, a simple point could have been made--That self-help books lack depth. Good authors, philosophers, thinkers, subject experts manage to carry the depth and choose the format most suitable for the kind of knowledge they serve to provide. A philosopher will choose essays when questions are to be answered with logic and arguments are to put forward. However, he will choose stories, poems, or other mediums to express the 'Understanding' i.e. to express and pronounce the feeling or subtle sublime nature of their truth. After all there can be no metric or empirical data for subjective reality of people and thus to express these kinds of depths that lies in the consciousness of human, they may very well choose fiction or poem or any medium they deem correct
Congratulations, you're in the top tier group of people who made me subscribed to their channel with their very first video, I don't know whether I'm being lazy or a person with exceptional taste.
I dont know why but Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, made me love nature. I didnt read this book to start loving nature, it just happened. I just woke up, saw a beautiful sunrise and went for a walk. Its insane how books can change our lives without even us expecting that.
2:10 Thats ironic how I'd brush stuff off like that as a kid when a teacher says it, but now I'm sitting here listening intently about reading fiction from some stranger on the internet
Bro, thank you for this! A predominately non-fiction guy here. I just realised that the key lessons that shaped my personality in the long run all came from stories. My mind is blown.
Encouraging people to read is great! But fiction vs non-fiction is a matter of preference. Some people appreciate when a writer gets straight to the point. But i do understand your point of view.
I really appreciate this message. As I watched this, I recognized that I accidentally read a fiction book this year and it was one of the most impactful reads of the year by far. It stuck with me in a way that nonfiction does not. Beyond that, I read the fiction book one the fastest too. It was addictive and I couldn't put it down. Great message and it hit me hard. Thanks man.
I tend to juggle between non-fiction and then fiction and then back to non-fiction again, i honestly find both intriguing and fun to read. Just finished Steve Jobs autobiography and am gonna go straight into Game Of Thrones after (even though I've already watched the show), I think it's healthy to read both honestly. But you are right in that a self-help book usually is a bullet point summary but I see it rather as that they've established formulas for for example what it means to cooperate, leadership and so on. So I like both personally
I wholeheartedly agree. I would also advise to read books even if they are "unpopular". For example, I know a lot of people hated The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, often minimizing it to sexism and adultery, but when I read that book, I struck deeply by the breathtaking and twisted beauty of Hawthorne's writing style. I was struck deeply about hypocrisy in religion, the dynamic between the truly religious and those who use it as a means of an end to manipulate others and society. The characters carried a depth I had not seen in a long time and were truly representative of humanity and its crutches, at the expense of some and the benefit of others. I applaud you for this video, thank you.
Why not read both? Lol I exlusively read fiction in my teenage years and only started reading non-fiction books during uni and I learned a lot from them. Sometimes you have to take notes and think about what's written in there to digest the ideas, in contrast woth fiction where you kinda "live through" the whole experience, but that's just a different way to communicate not necessarily worse in my eyes (I realize you can analyze fiction for deeper meaning too, but for non-fiction books usually you have to interact more with the text in my opinion). In recent times I gained most from Robert Greene's Mastery, which provided example's from real life through history on how to attain this "mastery" he described in there. No matter how much I love fiction books, you can just make stuff up in them that does not work that way in real life. I also found David Goggins' book inspiring and if he had been a character in a novel I would've just said that this is bullshit. Knowing he has done what he has done in real life gives weight to his words in my opinion. I do see your point and you can learn a lot from fiction I agree. I think I gained a better understanding of other people's beliefs and values from reading fiction. On the other for me stories most of the time did't really inspire me to become better, but just served as escapism. Why work hard if I can read about someone else doing their work and feel their succes while reading about it? Maybe I just have an inferior taste in fiction tho. You can gain from both type of books mentioned and they have different strengths. The idea to only read one type is just absurd to me and should've been in my teenage years too.
@@Air_SerpentThen don't read self-help books. People behave as if it's the only non-fiction genre in existence. Read something about behavioral studies, whether on animals or people, or maybe a biography of an interesting person that's been through a lot, pick up a random book on company branding. There's lessons in everything, just find a good angle. Or if you're hell bent of only seeking wisdom from self-help books, reach for the antics and classics and apply them to real life and your experiences. It helps you to think for yourself and devise your own self-help methods instead of having everything spelled out for you from copy-paste authors. That engages imagination too and requires a lot of it. Indeed, why only read one type? It's how you use the books that matters.
this is a great comment. I said similar. I don't think non-fiction is a poorer way to enrich yourself as far as reading goes. It really is all in how the book is actually put together, and in any case they are too different stylistically to say one should be preferred over the other. nahh. A good book is a good book.
@Air_Serpent There are a lot of trash copy pasted fiction books too. That's why I haven't read a fiction book for years: I just couldn't find any that interested me, at least reading their synopsis on the cover or their review on magazines.
Read what you dig! I’ve always thought that was the best advice to anyone that can’t figure out what they should read. Good take on fiction too, my man
Yeah I read the 1300+ Count of Monte Cristo. Alexander Dumas is my favorite classical author but I don't recommend the unabridged version to average readers. Only do it if your a nerd. An abridged version will work fine. Basically how the book was written back in the day was with penny chapters. Authors used to publish books in stores for a penny a chapter and they'd come out weekly or bi-weekly. Thats how the count of monte cristo and other really big books got so friggin long. They were serialized drama's. That being said, there are a thousand subplots in the OG Monte Cristo and you dont need to read the original to get the gist of the book. The abridged versions that are 300 pages are fun to read.
Great speaker, very good voice for commentary. As a native Englishman, English-Indians are always genuinely great people incredible level of enlightenment. Thanks for making this for us brah!
I don't trust people who's primary reading is self-help and dudebro philosophy. Even YA stuff or booktok things inspire me more confidence on a person.
@genghisgalahad8465 dudebro is a term that refers to the typical stupid and hyper macho men full of insecurities who probably don't wash their behind because it would make them gay. Dudebro philosophy is dumb Joe Rogan, Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson-like garbage that is promoted via TikTok edits of sex offenders being racist and misogynistic in podcasts and the like.
After reading just one non-fiction book ( alchemist, which is an amazing read BTW), I completely agree with you. I have only read non-fiction(self-improvement books) before reading alchemist, so when I read Alchemist I was amazed by the lessons and wisdom shared, in such a way that makes you feel like you are part of the journey ~~~ AMAZING VIDEO!!!!
Awesome video! Subbed forever. I've actually never realized this about fiction until I heard your point of view, and it makes total sense. Fiction is worldbuilding. And *good* worldbuilding can't be lazy writing. As an author, you're putting yourself and your creativity to the test, in a way. How well can you convey what you want to convey, without going down the obvious route? (which would be writing everything plainly, in a very direct manner). Ficiton forces authors to build compelling stories and worlds, whereas simple "life lecturing" through mediocre self-help books has no such forcing function.
Hey man! Excellent video and beautiful language. I'm a long time reader, dabble in writing and work at a bookstore. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me for "48 Laws of Power" or "Richest Man in Babylon" etc. etc. I thought I was going when I realised the majority of our sales at our store are "self-development" books or toxic romance. I barely ever get asked for a classic, well-respected fictional author of ANY genre, non-fictional books that are focused on history etc. etc. People seem to follow Tiktok trends. God damn it, I sound old and pompous but this worries me. What worries me is I see less individualism in taste in people. It's self-help book after self-help book, smut book after smut. There's so little diversity in taste, or rather it's become the minority over the years.
I'm not sure there was ever that much diversity in literary taste, to be honest. One of my favorite novelists, Thackeray (wrote 1830 - 1860), complained bitterly that the public was addicted to silly chivalry (what we'd probably call toxic romance) stories by Walter Scott. Thackeray was a satirist and wrote fiction to tell the truth, not to comfort anyone, and I think his stories are still shockingly relevant to our politics and society.
Non-fiction doesn't mean just self-help books and "le stoic redpilled book recommendations" like 48 laws of power/sun tzu art of war/marcus aurelius meditations. If you want to read smart people's thoughts about the world just go through a philosophy reading list from a uni. You can derive meaning and lessons through anything but that's not an argument for "fiction makes you smarter". At the end of the day it's just a hobby, stop circlejerking about how it actually makes y'all smarter than readers of other genres/everyone else.
Thank you for making this video! I've been trying to explain to my brother why it's important to read fiction, but not doing it well. I will send this video along to him. Hopefully, he will take advice from you that he wouldn't take from me.
Good man - I've lost count of the number of times I've heard the most boring people claim they like reading and then list self help books 😂. I grew up without a TV and as a result I've probably read a book a week since I was 6. If I could only retain one form of recreation for the rest of my life, it would probably be reading.
One time I told my coworker I was picking up reading (blood meridian) and he was like oh hell yeah me too, I love reading. My favorite is think and grow rich 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
I like the idea of promoting reading fictions. There is just so much to gain from them. Kinda like having a smooth ride inside the transformative journey of the author s thought or inner consciousness. Sometime I adopted some of mental tools from this practice. But then again me realizing this also is thanks to non-fiction again. At the end of the day, just like he said let that wisdom find you.....
This realization is hitting me too. I found the best non-fiction books are those with stories from real life in them. Also in modern society today, way more things are tolerated, thus people don't have to hide behind fiction as much as they used to. It's still a good point. And because of that, we also see the concept of books mixing the concepts of story telling and self help. I liked biographies for that reason for several years. Fiction is still the place where we can see everything without exception expressed. And lotsa emotions too. Good reminder for the fast paced performance culture. :)
I finished reading Candid by Voltaire a few weeks ago and I was surprised by how much the last twenty or so pages impacted me. The book itself is actually very educational as it puts into reference the philosophy and society of 18th century Europe. However, the central theme of the novel is simple and the story culminates in the idea that you should just focus on your own thing and not care about politics and not allow the world's events to affect you; I feel like a self-help book could just state that but a novel could actually show, through plot and characterization, how to actually do or understand a central message.
I don't this that is the main message of the book. Candid did just that and all it brough to him and people around him was more suffering. I would say that the main takeaway from the book is not to give in to that all-positive mindset - sometimes shitty things happen and we shouldn't stay oblivious to the evil around us.
@ Yes I can agree that the goal of the book is to combat the optimism of the age of enlightenment, but the book itself culminates in the message to “Cultivate one’s own garden” and although I admit that I used the wrong wording of “central theme,” you can’t deny that focusing on your own self is the core lesson.
@@masterducky3646 I realize now that the argument about a "core lesson" or "main takeaway" may be pointless here. As you mentioned, several themes are embedded in the story of Candid's journey, some related to the historical events and other more philosophical and timeless. It's up to the reader to decide which lessons stick the most as we engage with the story through the lens of our own experiences and expectations. And that's a quality self help books often don't offer.
Agree. I remember the psychologist therapist Erich Fromm saying something similar in the 1950s. That to understand oneself and human nature to look to literature rather than the words of psychologists. Pre self help, self development, the same message. Thanks for this reminder. :)
May i provide one more wisdom? Fantasy and Science Fiction books. They provide incredible stories that tackles the human experience exactly like you said, but they add wonders to the stories that engage more than a more "realistic" fiction story.
You've conveyed your point brilliantly. I've actually been thinking about this for a while, since I gravitate towards fiction, but it seems like all my ambitious and successful peers choose financial and self-confidence books. Those books always seem so goofy to me, like parodies or something. I feel very validated by this video and your words, so I thank you.
Fiction must be read as ideological in and of itself. It might not be as evident as non-fiction, but one should try to grasp what type of society surrounded the author, what it made him or her see, and what it made him or her ignore.
Yep for better or worse that’s how I see almost all fiction, immediately thinking “what agenda is the author pushing who are the just and who are the degenerates”. But that becomes a problem when reading a lot of very old stories, occasionally you just want something that agrees with your values
This is why I can't stand people who slavishly cling to "death of the author! Separate the art and the artist!" and refuse to even consider the context of creation. Death of the author is a literary philosophy/thought experiment for the purposes of analysis, not a rule for how all fiction should be treated.
I like your take and observation! I agree on learning more from stories that resonate and where you feel the impact. That is definitely more sticking. As reading is not the same as consuming and digesting the story. I think both are helpful, a bit like the combination of theory and practice. You learn fast from practice, but you understand more about the context from theory. Both are helpful
Very cool video. The more the years pass, the more I resonate with this. Self-help (whether in the form of books or videos) has been bringing me less and less solace; I feel lonely when I engage with it. Books, on the other hand, make me feel part of someone else’s experience, I feel like I walk with someone who might or might not have things figured, and I appreciate that. Also, as a psychotherapist, I’ve seen time and time again how people struggle with the already digested nuggets of information and precepts that self-help brings; it’s almost like their immune system reacts negatively to a foreign thing with which they have little to no familiarity. It seems to me that self-help hurries to close experience telling you where you must go; fiction seems to promote more of an open journey, letting you figure things out.
Why deride non-fiction when so much of it isn’t self help garbage and pop psychology trash? History, biography, science, nature. There’s an entire of universe of amazing non-fiction works that are just as fulfilling, if not more so, than a made up story (and I love made up stories!!)
I agree, but there’s a special kind of wisdom you can gain from “made up stories.” I had an assignment in my philosophy class to pick any book that is about a philosophical topic or issue that I’m interested in and read it. I asked my philosophy teacher if I could pick a fiction graphic novel called Berserk. He said yes and that fictional stories were more philosophically influential to him than nonfiction philosophy books.
The message is more meant for people like my dad. He's got dozens of books about leadership and faith and what it means to be a good person and blah blah blah. He's obviously looking for something, and maybe if he would just read some fiction he might find it.
While i dont disagree with the overall thrust of the video, i feel you strawmanned non-fiction. If your goal is to learn, say political ethics, would The Omce And Future King be superior to the Politics of Aristotle? Maybe, but only in some ways. Aristotle will give you a thorough understanding of topics, their relations, and help you understand how to think of the topic. TOAFK will show you applocations. Both are valid and useful. When you define non-fiction as these sort of cheap self-help books, then of course yeah, the Count of Monte Cristo is going to beat 7 Habits.
it certainly strikes as if he purports the self-help genre to be reflective of all non-fiction. which... yeah, was kinda yikes. and I certainly concur with your point. i do not reckon that foregoing non-fiction altogether should be exhorted. one's understanding & appreciation for works of fiction can only be as rich as one's knowledge of the themes that are juggled on the page. retrospectively looking at a work with a more nourished mind (by sociology, philosophy, art, and psychology texts) can make even the seemingly shallow 'Twilight' a compelling treatise on the experience of womanhood and the body horror undertone of child-bearing. as you say. concept & exploration of the concept through fiction do strike as the more comprehensive way to go at it.
I completely agree with what you're saying. I’ve been reading self-help books since I was very young and rarely picked up storybooks. However, after watching a captivating movie called Coherence, I had a realization, I enjoy sci-fi movies, so why haven’t I explored books in the sci-fi genre?
The one non fiction book which I believe everyone should read in 'The Prince' by Niccolo Machiavelli, taught me more about governance than any fictional book or show
Nonfiction provides you knowledge. Direct and explicit, for better or for worse.
Fiction provides you wisdom. Wisdom is learned through experience. Even second-hand experience, whether fictional or not, is better than any advice. It is second only to real experience.
Of course, all with discretion and moderation.
very well put bro. i like the last point you made about experience
I’d say it gives u wisdom also because like u said experience u have to decipher and breakdown yourself to learn the lesson
@@AndreHarrisIi-zb8tx Wisdom is about embodying a lesson, not just knowing it. Deciphering and breaking down helps to understand something, but it doesn't help with taking it heart.
Nonfiction does not provide you knowledge. We need to stop thinking about nonfiction like this.
Much of the popular nonfiction is fiction packed a nonfiction. It is self-help slop, surface-level low-research books like the latest by Jared Diamond. His books have been disgraced for decades and his current work has no research to back it up.
If you want to gain knowledge, read academic texts, journals and highly regarded newspapers.
The fiction/nonfiction dichotomy needs to be updated. There are valuable books and there is slop.
@thomascromwell6840 Honestly when I said nonfiction, I meant objective nonfiction like some of national geographic (even that's debatable I'm sure). I didn't give it much thought but yeah, nonfiction philosophical books simply aren't fiction, and you're definitely right that it means little for how useful it is haha.
Same with fiction. Some don't have lessons, or don't do a good job at drilling them in.
Read both. Read whatever you want, just read.
For real who cares what gives you the most wisdom and do what works for you. That's kinda what the wisdom is trying to tell you in the first place.
no reading makes you more introverted which is a disease 💀
no you’re wrong fiction only 💯💯‼️
But most of the books in the world are trash...
Reading does not make you smart or wisdom by itself
@nodrvgs stay mediocre, CEOs across the globe would beg to differ
"Yeah man I love reading, my favorite author is David Goggins"
So true😂
as much as it pains me to say this, can't hurt me is a banger bro icl
Why does it hurt to say that?@@forallthadogs
@forallthadogsYeah even though it isn’t fiction it has a narrative to it.
His books are actually good tho 💀
You sold me on your argument when you said that the wisest people in humanity have been afraid to share their ideas, and that's why they've preferred to do it through stories, through characters who vicariously reflect their personal experiences, and thus share with the world the wisdom they acquired.
Thank you!
check out: The notes from underground by Fyodor Dostoyevskiy. He got almost sentenced to death because he was too intellectual.
you contradicted yourself, they right stories because writing self help books are probably too boring to them.
i don't think they're afraid to share their ideas tho. it's such a weird point. it's an entirely different skill set, making fiction vs self-help. tolkien didn't write lotr bcs he was a coward, it's just worldbuilding and fiction is the media that he likes. shakespeare didn't write plays bcs he was afraid to write self-help books, he just likes writing plays
@@felix-xd4mx apart of tolkien is bilbo so in a sense yes he was. But bilbo found his courage. Being afraid and facing your fears is courage. Tolkien was alive during terrible war. Man alot of what he wrote definitely reflects different parts of his character what are you on about
@@BlackSun90 i don't agree with the idea of "fiction authors are afraid to share their ideas, so they prefer to share it through stories" i think that doesn't make sense to me. fiction authors just simply like fiction as a medium more. it's not like self-help authors are somehow "braver" than fiction authors. do u get it? tolkien was in the ww1 and faced his fears. BUT the idea of ppl who write fiction is AFRAID of sharing their ideas and therefore it is WHY they use fiction is wrong. the logic don't add up
Reading the Count of Monte Cristo is an act of resilience in itself.
Eh, the only boring part is in the middle. The beginning is great.
My school made me do summer reading for that when I was like 13 😭
@@JoseAntonio-qu8nk I’ve read despairing reviews that make his stay in d’If sound like a breeze.
boo, it's literally the best novel ever written, gripping from beginning to end.
I wanna read that
“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.” - James Baldwin
clever
Fiction is fucking awesome, who's with me?
true brother
Word
Sherlock novels is fantastic
We are!
Yeah!!
Fiction is awesome because you can characterize philosophies/ideas that are too abstract to articulate directly. The best characters embody specific philosophies and ways of thinking, it’s so beautiful to read authors who can do this well
dostoevsky
Theorybros are going to be so blown away when they discover the concept of imagination.
haven't read that one yet bro - it's next on my list
Do you think the minds of scientists aren’t imaginative? I’m a physics student and I am
@ Presumably though, you don’t make reading theory exclusively your entire personality.
@CaptainCobbler I think perhaps there's a difference here between "someone who likes theories (especially scientific)" vs. "theorybros"?
"Theorybros" strikes me as a title for a kind of person and personality, akin to "finance bros." Like, there's nothing wrong with being financially literate, or having a hobby of following some finance news, or working as an accountant. But "finance bro" is a type of person who makes "finance" much of their personality, tends to be condescending about it to others, and disparages many other uses of time as "worthless" compared to tracking stocks/reading finance editorials/etc.
Many scientists also enjoy fiction, and that's pretty well-known, so I don't think that's what they meant here. My dad is a chemical engineer/polymer scientist, and loves fiction! He also loves all sorts of non-fiction, but "rejecting fiction as worthless" isn't a defining feature for him, or a feature of his at all.
😂
This is great. My favorite example is nonfiction vs fiction is the difference between reading an account on the history of slavery and feeling the experience of being a slave.
Exactly. I could live a thousand lives through books
Kinky recommendations I see
Also, good nonfiction punches the emotional narrative into you.
nah its better to read an account of slavery, I like the over-arching Economics of Slavery, studying the prices, the total marketcap value of all enslaved persons, the land they worked on and the commodities produced and their value.
Profound
Definitely. I like non-fiction when I'm dialing in on a specific idea, but when a lesson is in a narrative format, it really sticks with you. There's a reason Albert Camus wrote not just The Myth of Sisyphus, but also the Stranger. Some lines or lessons about Absurd philosophy stand out in The Myth of Sisyphus, but the story of Meursault really drives home what it means to be an "absurd man" because you remember the chain of events.
Great video!
Thanks bro! Camus has been on my reading list for a while, you may have convinced me to pick up 'the stranger' this weekend. right now i'm loving me a bit of kafka
Check out the Malcom X Biography
As someone who read both years ago, I just realized that I could still re-tell you the story of the stranger (some chapters with details) but hardly anything about the myth of Sisyphus. I know what it was about, I remember my love/hate relationship with it, but don't ask me about the content.
I mostly read non-fiction, usually as an introduction to a (to me new) topic in math or physics. There is however a difference in how much I remember (long term), depending on whether the books have narrative or not (doesn't matter if it's fictional or not).
@@steve67339 Narratives are a hell of a drug
Myth of Sisyphus is on my 2025 reading list. Just finished putting it together last night (hee hee)
The self help book cycle is literally so dangerous and easy to trap yourself in. I literally started hated reading (as an English major asw omg) because all I was reading is non fiction. I haven’t picked up a fiction book to read for fun in years. Thank you for this. Genuinely.
Anyone who reads valueable nonfiction(littrally anything other than self-help or pop trash) will be smart enough to immediately see the value in fiction.
Nah. I read scientific journals and books on mechanics and I think fiction is a load of rubbish
@CaptainCobbler i categorically don't consider that reading
@CaptainCobbler I, for myself, like reading scientific journals AND fiction books. You don't have to like one and dislike the other, they are not mutually exclusive.
I know in the end it's just a matter of taste, but there's value in both types, since you can enjoy and learn from fiction and non-fiction as well.
It also depends on what's the content and how well written the books and articles are, these are great factors in making someone like literature, be it fictional or not.
Maybe you just haven't found a good fiction book that suits your tastes? If you like Physics (as you mentioned mechanics) a good old classic sci-fi story that tempers with time travel and how a spaceship works or simply a crazy inventor's story with their contraptions might interest you.
I would suggest anyone that wants to give fiction books a go to start like this, with a simple, well written book about some concept you like, rather than just going straight to Alexandre Dumas, Shakespeare or any other big author they might recommend you, but that might also not be your cup of tea.
In my opinion, just find some fiction that you would actually like first, and only when you feel like you are ready you should tackle those big names every says is a must read.
You categorically what? Did your fiction teach you those categories? Because it requires a lot of fiction to believe that literally reading isn't in the same category as reading.
@sherlockshlome473 reading scientific textbooks or papers is in a different metaphysical space in my mind, it is too different from reading fiction or other types of non fiction
The most important lesson I got from fiction is empathy. Empathy is not something that is lived or taught in my family, and we're not born with it, but I learned it anyway. Made me a cycle-breaker.
PS: love the Buffy/Dr. Who clips
I think the decline in empathy and literacy are directly correlated.
I'm sorry, that sounds like a rough childhood. Congrats on breaking the cycle!
@@SabsileT Thank you! 🙏
This is so true. It's not only about the authors being afraid of showing their own experiences. It's just that writing is like painting. The environment, other characters, etc., can become intellectual symbols.
Non-fiction tells you _what_
Fiction tells you _why_
good one
bro hasn't discovered marxism, go read my fav white boi karl man
@@sqoerrel cringe 😬
what nonfiction are yall reading, non fiction tells you why
@doppio4994 does it tell you in a boring, dry way, or in a compelling way? Fiction is popular because it tells a compelling story.
I miss reading fiction
thanks bro I needed this
Evil Hamza in an alternate timeline and I'm fuckin all here for it bro keep it up
Lmaoo evil hamza 🤣🤣
hamza if he was better and cooler and not a right wing grifter
@@voidstar324 he's not even really right wing, just a weird grifter
Yo guys, read some Latin American classics as well, Pedro Paramo, One Hundred Years of Solitude, 2066, etc.
Márquez is a genius
@@forallthadogs Loved his book so much I ordered it in Spanish just to read it in is purest form.
Bolaño the 🐐
But damn, Pedro Paramo is hard to read unless you can read Spanish well. I grew up with the language but not within a Spanish-speaking community (just through my mother) and I'm not sure I understood even 10% of what was going on. I think it's what led to my reading slump this year haha.
I mean, yes, recommended. But read it in a language you can understand :P
(I shall return to it when I've read some easier Spanish-language books)
gabriel garcia marquez produced the most boring slop to ever be written in this forsaken continent. I would rather read medicine ingredients. If you want actual latin american classics. try something of more substance like Machado de Assis
Clicked on this video so fast. I have read a bunch of self help books and don’t get me wrong they are helpful but nothing beats a good story that makes you think for yourself. That is rewarding
Plato kind of covers both, that's why I love it so much
Agree read the republic recently and that book was amazing
I am officially sold on the idea. It's so simple that l am embarrassed I hadn't thought of it myself. I find your points convincing and would start reading a lot of fiction, maybe even the majority of my books
there's no fiction book that can teach me how to beat the stock market
I read about 2/3 fiction and 1/3 non-fiction and I feel that is a really good ratio
Yeah perfect ratio. For me I only read fiction, but it's more beneficial because I want to write a novel one day
@themangaculture i also recommend looking at some non-fiction, there is a lot of inspiration you can get out of things that happen IRL
@@ultimateidiot2344 If so, if there was one non fiction book you would reccomend, what would it be?
@themangaculture what type of book do you want to write?
@themangaculture I mean that depends on what you want to write and your tastes honestly lol I have enjoyed reading some "true crime" books and memoirs
ngl man ur advice changed my mind about READING . reading shouldn't neccessarily be used as a form of getting an idea for a life change but IT SHOULD BE FIRSTLY OUT OF ENTERTAINMENT AND CURIOSITY . i wish sum1 couldve told me that before and thank you for this video
Self help books are the bottom of the barrel of non-fiction.
I once received a self help book for birthday.
It was so bad I legit didn't even keep it in my bookshelf and just threw it into the trash, still feel bad about the quality paper used to print that...
fr, boring ass books
Fight club warned against them lol "self help is self masturbation"
I wouldn’t call them non-fiction tho. 7 habits is mormon propaganda
Absolutely true. REAL nonfiction is usually about specific subjects and by researchers and scientists (professional or otherwise), in the form of textbooks.
Fantastically explained. The "read what you are interested in" is what I had to learn last year when I was looking for fiction I could learn from and it was genuinely difficult to enjoy them.
Definitely agree. Rereading LOTR recently helped me deal with the grief of losing my sad far more than any nin fiction self help would have.
I agree with this so much, I recently read my year of rest and relaxation, the last line of the book had so much weight because you spent the last 300 pages reading about this persons story. I feel as if there is a small movement of men realizing that fiction is what will actually give you that true insight into life
This was a great video! While I do like to learn from non-fiction, fiction specifically has changed who I am as a person immensely. I personally think it's the fastest and easiest way to grow mentally, and I love when people recommend others read
THANK U I ALWAYS HAD WEIRD FEELINGS ABOUT SELF HELP BOOKS, FICTION TEACHES ME MORE
god, the number of times people have told me to stop reading fiction because “it’s for kids” and recommended some self-help shit instead. idk maybe self-help books work for some people but to me, they just seem like the same old advices paraphrased. fiction has so much range and versatility idk why anything involving creativity or imagination is immediately labelled as immature.
If you read self-help books for a decade that means you have not learned the lessons of the self help-genre. If you are smart you can learn that stuff by watching the right ten UA-cam videos and most other stuff is just a rewording of that.
Of course implementing that stuff may take longer than it takes to watch those 10 UA-cam videos. But after you've watched them you already have the knowledge for how to change. You "just" have to do it.
@@benrex7775 Do you have 10 you would recommend?
Man, I have a feeling these same type of people watch sports or tv/movies frequently. Like, even if the fiction you are reading is somehow a tier below self help non-fiction, it's still going to be miles better than any of the former. I do wonder if this is just insecurity/projection on their part.
@ you mean you think books are better than movies or tv shows?
@@skyhideaway In terms of mental health and brain improvement, I do. As a form of art, maybe not always the case.
Or am I misunderstanding, did I make a mistake? Sorry
U spoke what I am telling people around me for years now.. Exactly my feelings.. Subscribed ❤️
Thank you so much for this video. I live in a culture where people generally are too lazy to read. Even if they do read, they don't read fiction. I mean, it's good to learn something from those academic books, but there is just something so special about getting immersed in a good storybook. I feel bad for those who never got the chance to see books as entertainment.
Thank you for this video and your wisdom too. Everything that is now indeed starts with storytelling and its life lessons. Fiction is indeed the start of everything that is now. Keep doing this content, and you'll never know how many people you'll be able to inspire.
Thank you for your comment broski
Reading fiction is the only way to enter into the interior, subjective mental space of another person. It’s quite literally the only way to see what people are thinking, as opposed to what they’re saying and doing. (Which is often at odds with the interior mind.)
I understand and agree with you, but I wanna say "Non-fiction doesn't simply mean self help books"
Thank you for making this video. This gives me hope, that there are people who care about reading in these current times when everyone wants you to believe that reading is outdated and doom-scrolling endlessly is the norm.
On the topic of fiction vs non fiction all my life I have come across a great number of people who would take great pride in never having picked up fiction and sticking only to non fiction mostly self help crap. Their understanding of fiction was limited quite limited.
i grew up reading fiction novels for fun as many of us did although when i went off to college i put down fiction for academic works from History, Philosophy, Linguistics, Science, Psychology, etc. Those books certainly broadened my horizons and i still am passionate about those topics. Albeit reading those literatures, many of the times, felt like swallowing nails and it totally ruined my passion for reading in general. The themes i learned in those academic books are the exact same themes provided by authors in the various works of Sci-Fi and Fantasy that ive grown up reading as well. As you mentioned those people will scoff at fiction novels but then be profoundly amazed at the insightfulness of the movie version of the novel haha! If only they knew the irony in their ways right....
@@VojvodaSloboda haha so true about the movie part. 😆
I LITERALLY HAVE 48 LAWS OF POWER IN MY HANDS RIGHT NOW WTF
Very good book!
MORE LIKE 48 LAWS OF BEING A NORMIE, YA NORMIE!!!
Amazing video!! I often don't like non-fiction for these exact reasons. Fictional books transport you to different settings and eras, that they stay with you better. Fictional books also allow you to experience things from different lenses and help your critical thinking skills. Good work, so glad I stumbled upon your video!!
Lots of good points in this video! Well done!
Self-help books are a scam.
For some people I would also give vice-versa advice: if you’re into fantasy and sci-fi books, don’t stop there and try some non-fiction equivalents.
For example, not a single fantasy lore can be as deep as antique, medieval, renaissance or baroque history.
Awesome video. Great B-Roll and I love me some Edmond Dantes. The Count is one of the greatest.
I’m not going to disagree with the theme of this 4:24 video essay that one should read fiction. I am however going to criticize the choice of 48 Laws of Power as the non-fiction book to criticize as an example of bad non-fiction. The book contains a number of anecdotes from history related to each law, and these are quite educational. Furthermore it weakens the premise of this essay to deny that learning from actual history is equally, and arguably, more useful than learning from fiction.
Agreed!
He should have used self-help books instead of fiction because reading meditations or when breath becomes air has impacted my point of view on my mortality and time
Good point in that the book he used as an example is one that relates all its points to things that actually happened in history. That's the best way to do nonfiction (relate it to real stories/examples).
Equivalent or more useful sometimes but certainly not most of the time.
You know that fiction most of the times inspires itself from reality and often it is set in some sort of historical frame (well you have fantasy that isnt ) but fiction could be more even precise and more mind widening than non fiction.
Buy I think its a stupid argument they can be both usefull and very good for their own purpose for example the best way to learn about politics is to read non fiction essays like noam chomsky or inequality of societies... and for psychology the best is and will probably always be fiction with the likes of dostoeivski and way more . Even historical books sometimes are beaten by their fiction conterparts .
You should just read from both and try to not compare them
Great video, 400k views well earned.
I agree that fiction can be useful for making ideas and lessons more memorable, especially compared to a self-help book, but I don't think dissuading people from reading non-fiction is the way to go. Non-fiction isn’t just about self-help; it spans a wide range of subjects, including history, science, philosophy, art, and computer science. I find non-fiction a great way on getting informed about the world. Also consider that biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs can be just as moving and inspiring as fiction. They allow us to learn from the successes and mistakes of others and experience life through a different lens. I would recommend reading both.
i agree completely. for example, JFK by Fredrik Logevall has been a great read for me (taught me a lot). however it has been somewhat of a trend nowadays for people to consume non-fiction for the feel good factor it provides, rather than reading to apply that knowledge in the real world.
People’s lives are as valid of lessons as stories.
@forallthadogs To me, it seems like your point stands true mostly for 'Self-Help Books'. In which case, a simple point could have been made--That self-help books lack depth. Good authors, philosophers, thinkers, subject experts manage to carry the depth and choose the format most suitable for the kind of knowledge they serve to provide. A philosopher will choose essays when questions are to be answered with logic and arguments are to put forward. However, he will choose stories, poems, or other mediums to express the 'Understanding' i.e. to express and pronounce the feeling or subtle sublime nature of their truth.
After all there can be no metric or empirical data for subjective reality of people and thus to express these kinds of depths that lies in the consciousness of human, they may very well choose fiction or poem or any medium they deem correct
Agreed. I have completely changed my life from reading nonfiction, but I think both can have a spot in our journey of wisdom.
Congratulations, you're in the top tier group of people who made me subscribed to their channel with their very first video, I don't know whether I'm being lazy or a person with exceptional taste.
I started re-reading the count of monte cristo yesterday lol
I dont know why but Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, made me love nature. I didnt read this book to start loving nature, it just happened. I just woke up, saw a beautiful sunrise and went for a walk. Its insane how books can change our lives without even us expecting that.
2:10 Thats ironic how I'd brush stuff off like that as a kid when a teacher says it, but now I'm sitting here listening intently about reading fiction from some stranger on the internet
crazy how life works bro. as long as the lesson gets through then that's all that matters
Bro, thank you for this! A predominately non-fiction guy here. I just realised that the key lessons that shaped my personality in the long run all came from stories. My mind is blown.
Glad to hear that bro! Stories are kind of powerful
Can't believe bro made this banger of a video about the value of human storytelling and used an AI-generated book cover for the Count of Montecristo
Completely agree with the point to just read what your interested in
Just finished “tender is the flesh” last night and definitely felt the impact of that book hit harder than self help could
I get so excited when I see anyone mention this book lol, it's one of my favorites!
Its more impactful reading about a character you grew up with, not giving up; than reading a self help book about not giving up.
Most fictional stories do not encourage the hero to rehabilitate the villain. Green's book explicitly encourages rehabilitation.
Well said! Non-Fiction is great, but Fiction is greatest.
My memory too cooked to read fiction gotta keep track of all the characters and their stories while reading
Encouraging people to read is great! But fiction vs non-fiction is a matter of preference. Some people appreciate when a writer gets straight to the point.
But i do understand your point of view.
The Count of Monte cristo was my grandfathers favorite book. He didn’t remember much in old age but he remembered that book
I really appreciate this message. As I watched this, I recognized that I accidentally read a fiction book this year and it was one of the most impactful reads of the year by far. It stuck with me in a way that nonfiction does not. Beyond that, I read the fiction book one the fastest too. It was addictive and I couldn't put it down. Great message and it hit me hard. Thanks man.
I tend to juggle between non-fiction and then fiction and then back to non-fiction again, i honestly find both intriguing and fun to read. Just finished Steve Jobs autobiography and am gonna go straight into Game Of Thrones after (even though I've already watched the show), I think it's healthy to read both honestly. But you are right in that a self-help book usually is a bullet point summary but I see it rather as that they've established formulas for for example what it means to cooperate, leadership and so on. So I like both personally
The only regret you'll have about reading ASOIAF is the missing final book(s). Otherwise, you're going to enjoy it more than the show most likely.
@ appreciate the heads up bro, although it might be better not having an ending considering how the show ending turned out 💀
I wholeheartedly agree. I would also advise to read books even if they are "unpopular". For example, I know a lot of people hated The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, often minimizing it to sexism and adultery, but when I read that book, I struck deeply by the breathtaking and twisted beauty of Hawthorne's writing style. I was struck deeply about hypocrisy in religion, the dynamic between the truly religious and those who use it as a means of an end to manipulate others and society. The characters carried a depth I had not seen in a long time and were truly representative of humanity and its crutches, at the expense of some and the benefit of others. I applaud you for this video, thank you.
ur voice and ur delivery is really relaxing, i subscribed. much love from a fellow british south asian
3:28 this is one banger of a statement or phrase ngl. Also awesome video bro, very clear but still keeping it short.
Why not read both? Lol
I exlusively read fiction in my teenage years and only started reading non-fiction books during uni and I learned a lot from them. Sometimes you have to take notes and think about what's written in there to digest the ideas, in contrast woth fiction where you kinda "live through" the whole experience, but that's just a different way to communicate not necessarily worse in my eyes (I realize you can analyze fiction for deeper meaning too, but for non-fiction books usually you have to interact more with the text in my opinion).
In recent times I gained most from Robert Greene's Mastery, which provided example's from real life through history on how to attain this "mastery" he described in there. No matter how much I love fiction books, you can just make stuff up in them that does not work that way in real life. I also found David Goggins' book inspiring and if he had been a character in a novel I would've just said that this is bullshit. Knowing he has done what he has done in real life gives weight to his words in my opinion.
I do see your point and you can learn a lot from fiction I agree. I think I gained a better understanding of other people's beliefs and values from reading fiction. On the other for me stories most of the time did't really inspire me to become better, but just served as escapism. Why work hard if I can read about someone else doing their work and feel their succes while reading about it? Maybe I just have an inferior taste in fiction tho.
You can gain from both type of books mentioned and they have different strengths. The idea to only read one type is just absurd to me and should've been in my teenage years too.
I do too but there’s a lot of trash copy pasted self help books.
@@Air_SerpentThen don't read self-help books. People behave as if it's the only non-fiction genre in existence. Read something about behavioral studies, whether on animals or people, or maybe a biography of an interesting person that's been through a lot, pick up a random book on company branding. There's lessons in everything, just find a good angle. Or if you're hell bent of only seeking wisdom from self-help books, reach for the antics and classics and apply them to real life and your experiences. It helps you to think for yourself and devise your own self-help methods instead of having everything spelled out for you from copy-paste authors. That engages imagination too and requires a lot of it. Indeed, why only read one type? It's how you use the books that matters.
this is a great comment. I said similar. I don't think non-fiction is a poorer way to enrich yourself as far as reading goes. It really is all in how the book is actually put together, and in any case they are too different stylistically to say one should be preferred over the other. nahh. A good book is a good book.
@Air_Serpent There are a lot of trash copy pasted fiction books too. That's why I haven't read a fiction book for years: I just couldn't find any that interested me, at least reading their synopsis on the cover or their review on magazines.
👍🏾
Read what you dig! I’ve always thought that was the best advice to anyone that can’t figure out what they should read. Good take on fiction too, my man
Yeah I read the 1300+ Count of Monte Cristo. Alexander Dumas is my favorite classical author but I don't recommend the unabridged version to average readers. Only do it if your a nerd. An abridged version will work fine.
Basically how the book was written back in the day was with penny chapters. Authors used to publish books in stores for a penny a chapter and they'd come out weekly or bi-weekly. Thats how the count of monte cristo and other really big books got so friggin long. They were serialized drama's. That being said, there are a thousand subplots in the OG Monte Cristo and you dont need to read the original to get the gist of the book. The abridged versions that are 300 pages are fun to read.
Thinking about Don Quixote for this one
Great speaker, very good voice for commentary. As a native Englishman, English-Indians are always genuinely great people incredible level of enlightenment. Thanks for making this for us brah!
I don't trust people who's primary reading is self-help and dudebro philosophy. Even YA stuff or booktok things inspire me more confidence on a person.
What's dudebro?
@genghisgalahad8465 dudebro is a term that refers to the typical stupid and hyper macho men full of insecurities who probably don't wash their behind because it would make them gay.
Dudebro philosophy is dumb Joe Rogan, Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson-like garbage that is promoted via TikTok edits of sex offenders being racist and misogynistic in podcasts and the like.
@@genghisgalahad8465 a dude who is a bro
I would guess someone who says dude and bro a lot, think that one hasanabi guy @@genghisgalahad8465
@@genghisgalahad8465 A brilliantly crafted word.
Very well articulated! Thank you for sharing!
Take a shot every time he says bro.
liver day (bro)
After reading just one non-fiction book ( alchemist, which is an amazing read BTW), I completely agree with you. I have only read non-fiction(self-improvement books) before reading alchemist, so when I read Alchemist I was amazed by the lessons and wisdom shared, in such a way that makes you feel like you are part of the journey ~~~ AMAZING VIDEO!!!!
This guy should be steve in the minecraft movie
2 week winter MC phase incoming
WTF 🤣
"An amalgamation of lessons from fiction distilled and repackaged into a neat, concise list of bullet points." - Spot on.
Read what you love until you love to read.
Awesome video! Subbed forever.
I've actually never realized this about fiction until I heard your point of view, and it makes total sense. Fiction is worldbuilding. And *good* worldbuilding can't be lazy writing. As an author, you're putting yourself and your creativity to the test, in a way. How well can you convey what you want to convey, without going down the obvious route? (which would be writing everything plainly, in a very direct manner).
Ficiton forces authors to build compelling stories and worlds, whereas simple "life lecturing" through mediocre self-help books has no such forcing function.
Hey man! Excellent video and beautiful language. I'm a long time reader, dabble in writing and work at a bookstore. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me for "48 Laws of Power" or "Richest Man in Babylon" etc. etc. I thought I was going when I realised the majority of our sales at our store are "self-development" books or toxic romance. I barely ever get asked for a classic, well-respected fictional author of ANY genre, non-fictional books that are focused on history etc. etc. People seem to follow Tiktok trends. God damn it, I sound old and pompous but this worries me.
What worries me is I see less individualism in taste in people. It's self-help book after self-help book, smut book after smut. There's so little diversity in taste, or rather it's become the minority over the years.
But you do get more than 1 dollar for everybook you sell, in that case aren't self help books keeping your business alive?
I'm not sure there was ever that much diversity in literary taste, to be honest. One of my favorite novelists, Thackeray (wrote 1830 - 1860), complained bitterly that the public was addicted to silly chivalry (what we'd probably call toxic romance) stories by Walter Scott. Thackeray was a satirist and wrote fiction to tell the truth, not to comfort anyone, and I think his stories are still shockingly relevant to our politics and society.
I'm a non-fiction fan, but I'm impressed and persuaded. Thanks !
Non-fiction doesn't mean just self-help books and "le stoic redpilled book recommendations" like 48 laws of power/sun tzu art of war/marcus aurelius meditations. If you want to read smart people's thoughts about the world just go through a philosophy reading list from a uni. You can derive meaning and lessons through anything but that's not an argument for "fiction makes you smarter". At the end of the day it's just a hobby, stop circlejerking about how it actually makes y'all smarter than readers of other genres/everyone else.
Thank you for making this video! I've been trying to explain to my brother why it's important to read fiction, but not doing it well. I will send this video along to him. Hopefully, he will take advice from you that he wouldn't take from me.
i hope it works bro! it took me a while to get my lil bro reading but it was worth the effort for sure.
The same argument can be made for watching movies instead of reading any books at all
How
Good man - I've lost count of the number of times I've heard the most boring people claim they like reading and then list self help books 😂. I grew up without a TV and as a result I've probably read a book a week since I was 6. If I could only retain one form of recreation for the rest of my life, it would probably be reading.
One time I told my coworker I was picking up reading (blood meridian) and he was like oh hell yeah me too, I love reading. My favorite is think and grow rich 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
How was starting reading with Blood Meridian? That book is some journey
@@ProfessorPesca it really is
I like the idea of promoting reading fictions. There is just so much to gain from them. Kinda like having a smooth ride inside the transformative journey of the author s thought or inner consciousness. Sometime I adopted some of mental tools from this practice. But then again me realizing this also is thanks to non-fiction again. At the end of the day, just like he said let that wisdom find you.....
3:40 don't be scared pronounce the whole title 😭🙏
This realization is hitting me too. I found the best non-fiction books are those with stories from real life in them. Also in modern society today, way more things are tolerated, thus people don't have to hide behind fiction as much as they used to. It's still a good point. And because of that, we also see the concept of books mixing the concepts of story telling and self help. I liked biographies for that reason for several years.
Fiction is still the place where we can see everything without exception expressed. And lotsa emotions too. Good reminder for the fast paced performance culture. :)
I finished reading Candid by Voltaire a few weeks ago and I was surprised by how much the last twenty or so pages impacted me. The book itself is actually very educational as it puts into reference the philosophy and society of 18th century Europe. However, the central theme of the novel is simple and the story culminates in the idea that you should just focus on your own thing and not care about politics and not allow the world's events to affect you; I feel like a self-help book could just state that but a novel could actually show, through plot and characterization, how to actually do or understand a central message.
I don't this that is the main message of the book. Candid did just that and all it brough to him and people around him was more suffering. I would say that the main takeaway from the book is not to give in to that all-positive mindset - sometimes shitty things happen and we shouldn't stay oblivious to the evil around us.
@ Yes I can agree that the goal of the book is to combat the optimism of the age of enlightenment, but the book itself culminates in the message to “Cultivate one’s own garden” and although I admit that I used the wrong wording of “central theme,” you can’t deny that focusing on your own self is the core lesson.
I agree wholeheartedly with your last point bro. Also Candid sounds like a good read, may have to pick it up sometime soon.
@@masterducky3646 I realize now that the argument about a "core lesson" or "main takeaway" may be pointless here. As you mentioned, several themes are embedded in the story of Candid's journey, some related to the historical events and other more philosophical and timeless. It's up to the reader to decide which lessons stick the most as we engage with the story through the lens of our own experiences and expectations. And that's a quality self help books often don't offer.
Agree. I remember the psychologist therapist Erich Fromm saying something similar in the 1950s. That to understand oneself and human nature to look to literature rather than the words of psychologists. Pre self help, self development, the same message. Thanks for this reminder. :)
May i provide one more wisdom? Fantasy and Science Fiction books. They provide incredible stories that tackles the human experience exactly like you said, but they add wonders to the stories that engage more than a more "realistic" fiction story.
You've conveyed your point brilliantly. I've actually been thinking about this for a while, since I gravitate towards fiction, but it seems like all my ambitious and successful peers choose financial and self-confidence books. Those books always seem so goofy to me, like parodies or something. I feel very validated by this video and your words, so I thank you.
Love the Count of Monte Cristo.
Awesome advice as i myself have been reading more non-fiction lately. It's time for a change indeed.
Fiction must be read as ideological in and of itself. It might not be as evident as non-fiction, but one should try to grasp what type of society surrounded the author, what it made him or her see, and what it made him or her ignore.
Yep for better or worse that’s how I see almost all fiction, immediately thinking “what agenda is the author pushing who are the just and who are the degenerates”. But that becomes a problem when reading a lot of very old stories, occasionally you just want something that agrees with your values
This is why I can't stand people who slavishly cling to "death of the author! Separate the art and the artist!" and refuse to even consider the context of creation. Death of the author is a literary philosophy/thought experiment for the purposes of analysis, not a rule for how all fiction should be treated.
I like your take and observation! I agree on learning more from stories that resonate and where you feel the impact. That is definitely more sticking.
As reading is not the same as consuming and digesting the story. I think both are helpful, a bit like the combination of theory and practice. You learn fast from practice, but you understand more about the context from theory. Both are helpful
tolstoy, dostoevsky, austen, shakespeare... this is what people should read
so glad i stuck with crime and punishment in the end haha
You know there is a whole plethora of amazing literature that was published in our lifetimes
People should read whatever they like
Out of those 4 only Shakespeare is any good, and it’s very important to listen to an audiobook or stage performance
Doestvsky is great writer crime and punishment @@vondas1480
Very cool video. The more the years pass, the more I resonate with this. Self-help (whether in the form of books or videos) has been bringing me less and less solace; I feel lonely when I engage with it. Books, on the other hand, make me feel part of someone else’s experience, I feel like I walk with someone who might or might not have things figured, and I appreciate that.
Also, as a psychotherapist, I’ve seen time and time again how people struggle with the already digested nuggets of information and precepts that self-help brings; it’s almost like their immune system reacts negatively to a foreign thing with which they have little to no familiarity. It seems to me that self-help hurries to close experience telling you where you must go; fiction seems to promote more of an open journey, letting you figure things out.
Why deride non-fiction when so much of it isn’t self help garbage and pop psychology trash? History, biography, science, nature. There’s an entire of universe of amazing non-fiction works that are just as fulfilling, if not more so, than a made up story (and I love made up stories!!)
Agree I thought this was a silly way to look at books lol
Yes, he should’ve specified that in the beginning of the video
Nah you’re just midcurvers if you need that spelled out
I agree, but there’s a special kind of wisdom you can gain from “made up stories.” I had an assignment in my philosophy class to pick any book that is about a philosophical topic or issue that I’m interested in and read it. I asked my philosophy teacher if I could pick a fiction graphic novel called Berserk. He said yes and that fictional stories were more philosophically influential to him than nonfiction philosophy books.
The message is more meant for people like my dad. He's got dozens of books about leadership and faith and what it means to be a good person and blah blah blah. He's obviously looking for something, and maybe if he would just read some fiction he might find it.
the first sentence is literally the truest thing ive heard this week
While i dont disagree with the overall thrust of the video, i feel you strawmanned non-fiction. If your goal is to learn, say political ethics, would The Omce And Future King be superior to the Politics of Aristotle? Maybe, but only in some ways. Aristotle will give you a thorough understanding of topics, their relations, and help you understand how to think of the topic. TOAFK will show you applocations. Both are valid and useful. When you define non-fiction as these sort of cheap self-help books, then of course yeah, the Count of Monte Cristo is going to beat 7 Habits.
it certainly strikes as if he purports the self-help genre to be reflective of all non-fiction. which... yeah, was kinda yikes.
and I certainly concur with your point. i do not reckon that foregoing non-fiction altogether should be exhorted. one's understanding & appreciation for works of fiction can only be as rich as one's knowledge of the themes that are juggled on the page. retrospectively looking at a work with a more nourished mind (by sociology, philosophy, art, and psychology texts) can make even the seemingly shallow 'Twilight' a compelling treatise on the experience of womanhood and the body horror undertone of child-bearing.
as you say. concept & exploration of the concept through fiction do strike as the more comprehensive way to go at it.
I completely agree with what you're saying. I’ve been reading self-help books since I was very young and rarely picked up storybooks. However, after watching a captivating movie called Coherence, I had a realization, I enjoy sci-fi movies, so why haven’t I explored books in the sci-fi genre?
The one non fiction book which I believe everyone should read in 'The Prince' by Niccolo Machiavelli, taught me more about governance than any fictional book or show
the art of worldly wisdom is also a good read. sorta similar to the prince
Lmfao