THE READER WITH A THOUSAND FACES

Some notes on reading and the intersubjective imaginary

by Kai Matsumoto

When reflecting on the gifts that reading fiction can impart I thought it might be worth drilling down a little deeper.   In an earlier post I wrote:

I believe spending long periods of time immersed in fictional worlds, in the lives and subjectivities of others, in the mimicry game of literature, primes the limbic areas of our brains that enable and encourage empathy. 

I know I’m writer ten zillion and two who’s made such claims.  For now, though, the science seems to support these folkloricals.  Studies confirm that:

— “readers of fiction score higher on measures of empathy and theory of mind (ToM— the ability to think about others’ thoughts and feelings — than non-readers, even after controlling for age, gender, intelligence and personality factors”¹

— “that the process of imagining scenes while reading led to an increase in empathy and prosocial behavior”²

— “that the parts of the brain used for inferring thoughts and feelings of others — a phenomenon called ‘mentalizing’ — light up in an MRI machine when people are processing stories”³

— that reading can lower “categorical race bias.”⁴  

Three cheers for fiction, right?

… except it turns out that reading ain’t unique in its ability to build empathy muscles.