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Jack comments on Open Thread: May 2010 - Less Wrong
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Here's my question to everyone:
What do you think are the benefits of reading fiction (all kinds, not just science fiction) apart from the entertainment value? Whatever you're learning about the real world from fiction, wouldn't it be more effective to read a textbook instead or something? Is fiction mostly about entertainment rather than learning and improvement? Any thoughts?
Fiction is good for teasing out possibilities and counterfactuals, experimenting with different attitudes toward the world (as opposed to learning facts about the world), and learning to be cool.
On the other hand (and I speak as a person who really likes fiction), it's possible that you learn more about the human range by reading letters and diaries-- whatever is true in fiction may be distorted to make good stories.