@MichMae99 9 October 2020 more from that month

Our mind sees as we read My mother has a most unusual reading habit. She is an avid reader and is able to finish a 500 page book in a day. This is not the strange thing here. What is beyond surprising is the fact that she doesn't form ''pictures'' in her head as she reads. She reads the words but doesn't feel the need to ''play out'' the action using her imagination. Also, she claims that writing essays was her weakest part at school. Her function of imagining things has always been below average. No wonder she is the most pragmatic person I know. Me, on the other hand? I am the complete opposite. If I cannot form the scenes in my mind, if I find it difficult to be the ''director'' of the book I read, then I know I can form no connection to the action or the characters. Even when I read non-fiction, I feel compelled to ''see'' the events described in my head.

Photo source: https://www.google.com/search?q=mind+reading+a+boom&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjs1N3pq6fsAhXTIaYKHY3ACCsQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=mind+reading+a+boom&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzoECCMQJzoECAAQHjoECAAQEzoECB4QClDNTViGVmCFWWgAcAB4AIABsQGIAfYIkgEDMC44mAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=1ECAX-yaEtPDmAWNgaPYAg&bih=779&biw=424&client=ms-android-huawei-rev1&prmd=ivn#imgrc=n4e-th_3-hXF0M Words have a unique power to impose pictures into the inward eye of the mind¹ In a recent thread, a friend commented on how Homer, despite his supposed blindness, had the ability to create metaphors which were more visual and imaginatively stunning that modern CGI has been able to manage. Words have a power that even visual stimulation cannot capture. It is interesting to consider the cliche that ‘the book is better than the movie’ which—in most cases, though still debatable on many—tends to be true. Consider all the different forms of art that converge onto the silver screen. There is the script and writing, the acting, the directing, editing, sound and musical score, all that work together towards capturing an intended emotional response and resonance. Yet, despite all the efforts of many artists to capture a novel in a more immediate and mulit-sensory way, the words on the page hold more of a grip on our hearts and minds. While there is nothing particularly new here that will shatter your mind or blow you away, and even many points that you are may disagree with, reading this book feels somehow Socratic in its method of making you realize things that have always gone on in your head, things you knew, but never realized you knew. It is quite enriching while also being extremely entertaining. Words have a power its makes our mind sees as we read.