Learning to Read in Your 30s Profoundly Transforms the Brain
I enjoy reading, but I&#x27;ve always struggled with it, particularly with larger, slower-paced, and more complex books (though it&#x27;s never stopped me). I suspect I have pretty strong aphantasia [1] and so I never build mental images of the characters or their scenes, rather I only remember abstract descriptors about everything. I find that this makes it hard for me to follow storylines and in particular multiple story arcs in multiple different locations or timeframes. I think that this does impact the level of joy I get from reading, and envy those who get a rich tapestry of mental images from the stories.<p>I found, for example, Matthew Reilly&#x27;s <i>Ice Station</i> a relatively easy story when I read it as a teen because the pace was high and the action was contained to a relatively simple scene. On the other hand, I&#x27;m reading Neal Stephenson&#x27;s <i>Quicksilver</i> right now and I&#x27;m really struggling to follow the story arcs because it jumps all over the place with its characters, scenes and timeframes. The fact I&#x27;m already familiar with most of the characters&#x27; names helps some of it stick, but I&#x27;m resigned to most of the secondary Royal Society characters being a generic conglomeration of traits and just treat them as a supporting cast without defined personalities in a lot of ways.<p>I find that I also very quickly forget the contents of novels I read. I read <i>Snow Crash</i> about 5-8 years ago and then again earlier this year, and I barely remembered any of it. Certainly I think more stuck the second time, but it was still mostly new to me (e.g. the character concepts and biggest plot points kind of stuck, but nothing more).<p>I sort of hope that reading can help me improve with my memory, but it hasn&#x27;t in about 25 years of reading (I&#x27;m in my early 30s) so I don&#x27;t hold particularly high hopes. I do wonder whether the aphantasia would&#x27;ve been even worse had I not read so much when growing up, but maybe if it hasn&#x27;t noticeably improved in my life then equivalently it would never have been any worse had I not read. I wonder if my brain in some ways reflects an illiterate person in the visual cortex areas?<p>On the other hand, reading is undoubtedly the reason my vocabulary and spelling is as good as it is. Certainly, it&#x27;s is a very valuable skill and I am glad that I continued to engage it since I learned to read as a child.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.facebook.com&#x2F;notes&#x2F;blake-ross&#x2F;aphantasia-how-it-feels-to-be-blind-in-your-mind&#x2F;10156834777480504&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.facebook.com&#x2F;notes&#x2F;blake-ross&#x2F;aphantasia-how-it-...</a>