In 2013, a study by three researchers at the University of Toronto suggested that people who read literary fiction are more
comfortable with ambiguity, tend to avoid snap judgments and can deal better
with disorder and uncertainty. Publishing in the Creativity Research Journal,
the researchers found that reading fiction may help people open their minds.
(You don’t have to read the entire study; a short and succinct article in Salon translates the study
from the original Academic-ese.)
Business executives don’t read novels to help
them make decisions. But perhaps they should read novels to help them
understand the culture around them. They might make better decisions as a
result.
I spent a career writing non-fiction –
speeches, articles, reports, studies, and essays. And I read the business stuff
I had to read – The Wall Street Journal and a multitude of
business and trade publications. But I also read a considerable amount of
fiction and poetry, and the understanding followed was reflected in my career
work. I don’t think I could have written a lot of what I did without
having read Charles Dickens, for example, or The Jungle by
Upton Sinclair (as bad a novel as it was, it changed the laws governing food
production).
To continue reading, please see my post today at Christian Poets & Writers.
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