What Makes Us Better

Garth Beyer

I came across this article in the New York Times, “Does Great Literature Make Us Better?”

It encompasses the effect reading great literature has on our morality. The assumption is that the more literature we read, the more moral we become, that is, until we arrive at a level of moral expertise.

At the end of the article, I had an immediate thought far apart from the initial argument Gregory Currie makes. In fact, I think it’s an argument that he meant to make, but, alas, he had a word count.

What triggered my thought – which I am just about to share – was Currie’s first line in his last paragraph. After showing that many of the studies on this subject lack evidence, he acknowledges, “But it’s hard to avoid the thought that there is something in the anti-elitist’s worry.” His final note is that those who dedicate their time to reading such strong works of literature must greatly benefit from it; that it is not solely a form of aesthetic stimulus. Doing so puts them in a group of the elite, singling out those who do not exchange their time for cramming their brain with words.

I believe that Currie has taken only one small piece of the Moral Pie of Learning. Take anything that one has dedicated long tenuous hours to, that he has ruminated on, or that she has prioritized acting on over other actions which may result in a quicker benefit, and you will discover that one has become “better,” more morally enlightened.

If one were to floss their teeth for as many hours as someone were to reads great pieces of literature, I guarantee they will have arrived at conclusions about morality, the way of life, and have obtained a plethora of applicable analogies with dental floss being part of them – different, but as many as the person who read great literature.

Currie brings forth the question of whether we are naturally moral people and as a result, read more great literature, or if the great literature we read makes us moral people.

The simple fact is that the more of whatever we do, the more moral we become.

So what if you don’t read as much as someone else? Just be sure that what you are doing as much of, is something that you love. Moral elites are not made from reading great literature, they are made from doing what they love and doing it often.

 

Stay Positive & No Need To Worry

Garth E. Beyer

Garth Beyer
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