Reading feeds human superpowers
Blog
Topics
- Competence development
- Personal story
- Well-being and leisure
Author: Satu Rämö
This is something that many people fear across all industries: artificial intelligence will take away all of our jobs! At the same time, cell phones have become an extension of our hands, we develop lumps on the back of our necks and upper backs, and three seconds feels like too long to “wait for the point.”
What can we do about it? Well, certainly not stop using ChatGPT, delete our social media accounts, and throw our smartphones into the Gulf of Finland. Total bans rarely work, and digitalization has already happened.
The solution to breaking the three-second endorphin loop is ultimately very simple. Pick up a book. Read something. Reading also has amazing side effects!
Creativity = a weapon against artificial intelligence
Machines don’t experience meaning, humans do. That is our superpower. Human creativity is the most powerful weapon against artificial intelligence, because creativity is human. However, creativity does not happen by itself. Creativity is a muscle that needs exercise and space to grow.
Reading is one of the best ways to feed creativity. It does not require expensive investments, travel, a large support team, or a scheduling system. Reading is a selfish and extremely liberal activity – downright revolutionary. Every reader’s interpretation is their own, and no one else can come along and nitpick the context of the text. When reading, you don’t have to care about the reactions of others.
Reading is simple, yet surprisingly difficult for modern people. Even those who are literate need to practice reading, because nothing much happens during the first few words and there is a strong desire to move on to more rewarding content. Starting a new book often feels boring. You just have to endure the boredom, because without it there is no creativity. The brain needs a stimulus-free and boring state of mind in order to create unprecedented ideas and fresh perspectives.
You just have to endure the boredom, because without it there is no creativity.
Think of a bucket
Let’s think of the brain as a bucket. When water is allowed to fall gently into the bucket, the bucket fills up and you can scoop water out of it for your indoor plants. If you rush to empty the bucket after every drop that splashes into it, there will be no water left for the flowers or even for your own drinking water.
Quickly moving from one social media update to another is like emptying the bucket before anything has had time to fall into it. If you only react to content created by other people, you will not be able to create anything new.
Reading is a slow and peaceful activity. Meanings arise calmly in your own imagination, one word and one page at a time. The story comes to life in the reader’s own mind and stays there. The effect is long-lasting.
You have to put something in to get something out. You can’t create anything new if you have nothing to draw from.
In that moment, boredom disappears and your awareness of the passing minutes becomes blurred. You descend into a state of calm, and the text you are reading begins to spark thoughts.
Try the boredom challenge – and be surprised!
When you have finished reading this column, put away your smart device and pick up a book. It can be a detective novel, the Bible, a book of poetry, or even a children’s book. It doesn’t matter what kind of book it is. For the purposes of this exercise, it is better if your preconceptions about the book are as boring and tedious as possible. Because now we are going to practice getting bored.
Sit down and open the book. The first three seconds, i.e., the moment of decision, are the hardest. Keep your eyes on the first page of the book. Read on bravely. After five minutes, you may already be feeling frustrated. You may still not have a good grasp of what kind of story is beginning and who the characters are. So what is the point of this story? What should I think about it? Find out by continuing to read.
The sweet spot comes when you fall into the world of the story. In that second, the boredom ends and your awareness of the passing minutes fades. You descend into a state of calm, and the text you are reading begins to spark thoughts. One of the characters comes to life in your mind. Perhaps you can even recognize something familiar in the surroundings? Maybe it reminds you of a place that is important to you? Perhaps one of the characters reminds you of someone you know? What is happening now is creativity.
When you tolerate boredom, you gain creativity.
Satu Rämö
A Finnish crime writer, economist, and humanist living in Iceland. Satu is best known for her Hildur book series.