Sound knowledge is the only fuel which can sustain the productive flame of intelligent discussions.
© 2019 Nigerian Patriot
Intro
In simple terms, Reading is the action of looking through written or printed material with the aim of decoding a language in order to derive meaning from the text. It is a process that informs understanding and consequently, expands your knowledge base on a subject.
Sadly, the complexity behind the art of reading is grossly underestimated by a majority of us as we engage the process. Subsequently, the powerful essence of the art is mostly misunderstood and its priceless value lost with the ignorant misapplication of principles which bear the ability to deliver resounding cognitive improvements in any person of diligent character.
Bearing in mind the vast and complex dimension of the subject of reading, this summary blog post is designed to provide peripheral insight and hopefully awaken your interest to embark on a deeper research on the subject.
For the sake of brevity, simplicity and ease of understanding, this post will highlight major areas that will hopefully convince anyone on the relationship between reading, improving knowledge and the gainful outcome of purposeful reasoning.
The Art Of Reading
Reading is a complex process which is primarily driven by your attitude. It is an art that requires extracting meaning from written or printed words; therefore such materials must be rendered in a language familiar to you. It would make no sense at all reading a book in French, when you have no idea of the language or if you possess a very limited understanding of it.
To aid with the construction of understanding the written or printed content in its entirety as intended by the author, it is also recommended that you keep a dictionary handy. This will enable you to check out the meaning of unfamiliar words. This habit would improve and increase your vocabulary on the long run making the process of reading a fluent, more enjoyable and fulfilling experience.
Reading should be done under circumstances that offer the least distraction on your ability to wholly assimilate the content of the written or printed material. The traditional recommendation for best results had been to read in a quiet environment, however, in our modern world of information deluge and with the proliferation of mobile devices, sometimes we are forced to read on the move. As a result, it may appear plausible to think that an ideal condition for reading can be created by a self conviction on your ability to remain focused on the content within an environment of distraction. Experiments and experience have proven that results obtained from reading in a quiet environment are best.
Improving Knowledge
For the purpose of illustration, common sense implies that if you have not read the story book of ‘Alice in Wonderland’, you will not have in-depth knowledge of her interesting adventures. This logic also applies to the fact that the degree of understanding of the story depends on the attention committed and information assimilated during reading. By the time you read other story books with the same depth of commitment, or indeed materials on any other subject of interest, your level of diverse knowledge will continue to grow.
Therefore it is safe to conclude that the more you read various materials, the more your knowledge base expands in equal measure and the less you read, the less you know; fair and simple!
Purposeful Reasoning
Reasoning (or thought process) is informed by knowledge. The concept of purposeful (enlightened, intelligent, intellectual, clever, smart, witty) reasoning is the powerful reward behind the art of reading. Anyone who is well read on a subject will definitely be able to make insightful contributions on any discussion regarding that subject. Think about it: what you do not know you are not informed or empowered to speak about.
The resourceful potential of a knowledgeable person is a great asset to self, family and society when dealing with daily concerns of life. Such persons are informed to understand diverse issues; constructively providing realistic advice and proffering enduring solutions. They form the core of any positive change initiative within their sphere of reach and influence. They update their resourceful potential by constantly maintaining a healthy habit of reading.
Closing Remarks
One of the reasons we seem not to find a solution to the myriad of unpleasant sorts confronting our collective effort at resolving our issues of national challenge, rests in the fact that a majority of individual opinions on these challenges are highly uninformed and rather unenlightened. The same logic applies to our collective approach toward policies of governance and issues of group concern on any scale in our noble nation Nigeria.
Hopefully the content of this summary post will furnish an understanding which would provide helpful clues to capacity development requirements that would greatly assist with improving our reasoning ability and thought process.
Always remember that ‘Sound knowledge is the only fuel which can sustain the productive flame of intelligent discussions.’
Arise O Compatriots….
© 2019 – Nigerian Patriot. All Rights reserved
Nigerian Patriot 