The capacity for empathy — to first identify and then understand and share in someone else’s feelings — is largely held as a virtue. Yet, there is a knowledge problem that makes being naturally empathetic a struggle. Why? As poet John Keats put it, “Nothing ever becomes real until it is experienced.”
So how can someone else’s perspective (视角) and emotions ever become real enough for us to develop empathy? Reading fiction may provide an answer.
Studies show that when you read fiction, it not only activates the language processing center of the brain but also increases global flow in the brain. It speeds up the part involved in physical movement and areas of the brain linked to sensory experiences. In other words, reading fiction lights up the brain in ways that copy the neural (神经) activities of the experience you’re reading about. For example, if you read a well-written passage about a character hiking through the wilderness, your brain reacts as if you’re on that hike.
To really cultivate empathy, you need to be internally more aware of and connected to those around you. And again, reading fiction is associated with just such a skill. One study, which assesses one’s ability to determine someone else’s emotions based on their facial expression alone, showed that fiction readers scored higher than non-readers and readers of nonfiction. The researchers assumed that reading fiction allows people to practice taking on someone else’s perspective and thus improves their social awareness. This suggests that reading fiction improves one’s theory of mind and emotional intelligence.
The takeaway lesson is simple: If you want to build empathy, try reading more fiction, more often — especially fiction by and about people whose experiences are different from your own.
【小题1】What does the author think can help develop empathy?【小题2】How does reading fiction light up our mind?
【小题3】Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why?
▷Non-readers and readers of nonfiction can better determine someone else’s emotions based on their facial expression alone.
【小题4】In addition to the benefits mentioned above, what do you think are some other benefits of reading fiction? (In about 40 words)
