Reading

[Avengardh]

I have not been able to read a single book since I stopped taking math (last was diff EQ, but the problem was really there when I was taking Calc II), I think I pretty much replaced reading with math and now I am not able to just sit and read a book (manga or comics with a plot I can read).

It's troubling me, I want to read books but the most I go is just a couple of pages and I can't read it anymore, I just leave it.

Does this happen/has happened to you? And does it ever go away?? Any other thoughts??

~*Aven*~

[Boneca]

The day I'm unable to read books, I'm going to get scared. :ph34r:
Unfortunately I seldom have the time nowadays with a ton of course literature that I have to read before my exams.

Edit: whopee, the ninja man works! Thank you file cabinet!

[purple13]

I've never been a BIG reader, but occassionally I do. More so lately. I think you have to find something that you're interested in, and the beginning of some books can take a while to get into, with all the character development and what not.

I just finished reading "The Rule of Four", which I thought was pretty good. Kept my interest anyway.

[mgb]

I love reading (see the toilet poll).

School does get in the way quite a bit, but I suppose those are books too.

My favorite is rainy days where I just don't get out of bed and I read all day.

[booyalab]

I usually prefer reading non-fiction to fiction. But there have been several really good fiction books. I loved Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, I like all of Christopher Moore's books, and I liked the tolkien series, and Gregory Maguire's books (aka "Wicked"), to name a few.

[SheepDog]

Much of my reading is of the "how stuff works" category. Everything from gasoline engines, to programming, to the National Electrical Code.

[anarchist]

I usually prefer reading non-fiction to fiction. But there have been several really good fiction books. I loved Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, I like all of Christopher Moore's books, and I liked the tolkien series, and Gregory Maguire's books (aka "Wicked"), to name a few.
infact that seems to be one of the distinguishing characterstics which separates an INTP from an INFP....I have seen many INFP's who are just not interested in non fiction..they always prefer fantasy...

[MjrMarshmellows]

I am madly in love with Kurt Vonneguts works. All of them... If you are an INTP you HAVE to read Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse 5... NO exceptions.

[Edmond Zedo]

If you are an INTP you HAVE to read Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse 5... NO exceptions.
Cats Cradle? I started at page 1 in the bookstore and made it all the way to line 15 or 20, maybe. I was disgusted.

[gypseymothlee]

I'll go through stages where I can read a dozen books in a week, and then ones where I won't be able to get through a paragraph. I usually read magazines or stuff with a lot of pictures during that time.
Consider it a temporary reader's block, it should pass.

[Johnny]

If it interests me, I will read it until I reach the end and stop only when I have to. Lately, I've been browsing Wikipedia to obtain factual information to support a particular claim or criticism I offer in some forum.

[jimkopelli]

I've got to have my wikipedia fix, now too... read a bunch of random pages every day... I read a lot. I'm running out of things to read... have to keep looking for stuff I've missed or have't discovered yet. I can do without if I have to, though.

[Avengardh]

I'll go through stages where I can read a dozen books in a week, and then ones where I won't be able to get through a paragraph. I usually read magazines or stuff with a lot of pictures during that time.
Consider it a temporary reader's block, it should pass.
Yes, indeed, thanks for the insight though.

I can still read most things online, but man, it's baffling and frustrating.

~*Aven*~

[Warrior413]

On the last two books I chose to read (Ender's Game, Going Postal), it took me less than ten hours. But I don't have much time to read and haven't read anything in a while. It seems to be either all or nothing these days.

[BritainOphira]

I read alot, but with school I get distracted and wind up setting books down to finish a year later or never. Some books I can read in a decent amount of time, but lately I keep falling asleep and not getting to read, but Christmas break is coming and I'll have time to catch up.

[SheepDog]

If it interests me, I will read it until I reach the end and stop only when I have to. Lately, I've been browsing Wikipedia to obtain factual information to support a particular claim or criticism I offer in some forum.
Wikipedia is a really neat resource. I can get lost there for quite a long time.

[waxwing]

I am madly in love with Kurt Vonneguts works. All of them... If you are an INTP you HAVE to read Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse 5... NO exceptions.


Uh huh...
Vonnegut's the man.
I think I like Breakfast of Champions best so far.


Oh, I multi-task when I read. I usually have four or five books in front of me so I can switch back and forth and stay engaged. Sometimes I'll read straight through, but usually only if I have to -- like when I was in school or something.

[SheepDog]

I'd probably read more, but I'm illiterate.

[waxwing]

It took guts to say that, SheepDog.

I was thinking, I bet you're not the only one. And if we can get a group of people together maybe we could form an underground illiteracy club for INTPs.
Maybe we can even make some soap or something like that. Sorry, Fight Club on my mind.

[SheepDog]

It took guts to say that, SheepDog.

I was thinking, I bet you're not the only one. And if we can get a group of people together maybe we could form an underground illiteracy club for INTPs.
Maybe we can even make some soap or something like that. Sorry, Fight Club on my mind.
My wife is wondering why I'm laughing out loud. :rofl:

BTW, that was a GREAT move.

[Avengardh]

It took guts to say that, SheepDog.

I was thinking, I bet you're not the only one. And if we can get a group of people together maybe we could form an underground illiteracy club for INTPs.
Maybe we can even make some soap or something like that. Sorry, Fight Club on my mind.
LOL....hahaha...great one.

[Clara]

Well, math is a language... maybe it's just taking a while for everything to settle into place, like when all the furniture gets moved around, in a house... at a wild guess.

What's wrong with reading comics? Do you know that some people can't?

Or, do you mean, you have texts that you must read, and can't?

PS You two K.V. fans - I've never understood what people like in reading his books; I don't dispute it, I just never enjoyed the way he puts words together enough to read more than a few pages. Then again, I've read books that no one around me at the time saw as a fun read, either.

[Chicken]

i can read online articles and research papers for hours in a sitting until it's done in one go, but i'll get to the last chapter of a book and just stop reading it due to losing interest.. kinda sucks.. a computer screen is captivating.. but even ebooks are unappealing if they are called 'books'

[Claverhouse]

I've read a lot since I was a kid. Trouble is you can barely get older books ( say, pre WWII ) in Britain the way you could even five years ago. And since the nearest books to hand are history books, and just now I don't feel like history... Plus I waste time on the computer. Difficult... And re-reading stuff gets tiresome too.



Claverhouse :ph34r:


[ If I were as multi-lingual as many residents here, I suppose I could start on other countries' masterpieces in turn. You do the great Russians when young in translation, but since translation is always rather flat one can never get the nuances, so generally one forgets to keep up ( except for Gogol & Solzhenitsyn ). ]

[coffeezombie]

I read science fiction and fantasy, although there have been stretches where all I've felt like reading have been comics. I think this was a result of what I felt as a lack of talent in the sci-fi literature field and too many Tolkien imitators. I try to read newer stuff in order to keep the faith that there are still some good writers out there. Someday perhaps I'll try writing on my own since my personal philosophy is that it is better to do something about things than to just sit and always complain.

[Napoleon]

I read on my whole life about 10 books with a story in them, and part of them where book i had to read for school.

On the other hand i read tons of info books about all kinds of stuff.
Hypnose, paranomal things, body language, speed reading, negotiating, self- help book, Memory books (mind-mapping), and a lot of other things

I have months a tackle on a new subject and read 3 books about one subject and just leave it. Months can pass without me ever touching a book (apart from school books)

[Dunearhp]

I read science fiction and fantasy, although there have been stretches where all I've felt like reading have been comics. I think this was a result of what I felt as a lack of talent in the sci-fi literature field and too many Tolkien imitators. I try to read newer stuff in order to keep the faith that there are still some good writers out there. Someday perhaps I'll try writing on my own since my personal philosophy is that it is better to do something about things than to just sit and always complain.

I will invoke Sturgeons law here. 90% of science fiction is crud because 90% of everything is crud.

You've probably already knocked off the majority of the most visible of the other 10%. Meaning that you've probably only found 2-4% of the good stuff

When I find my interest lagging in reading I often fall back onto short story anthologies. That way I can move onto the next story if the author disappoints me.

Avengardh: Once your mind finally assimilates maths properly it will probably re-normalize and you will fall back into your old reading habits. It just may take a while.


And since I thought of Theodore Sturgeon I have to strongly recommend his short story "Slow Sculpture"

[athman]

Uh huh...
Vonnegut's the man.
I think I like Breakfast of Champions best so far.

.
I agree. I have read most of Vonnegut's stuff and Breakfast of Champions is the best. I've never thought about the INTP angle. Maybe an excuse to dig out a few old books over xmas.

Also, I didn't read a thing for about a year after I finishing university, then I got back into it. Just needed a break i suppose.

[heeroyuy]

I'll go through stages where I can read a dozen books in a week, and then ones where I won't be able to get through a paragraph. I usually read magazines or stuff with a lot of pictures during that time.
Consider it a temporary reader's block, it should pass.

I can relate...I stop reading for long periods when busy, but usually try to keep up one or two books at least reading them once a week, or when I getta chance.

Sometimes I'll have reading fits where I just want to absorb. Recently I've had one of these, read 5 Asimov books last week, getting more tomorrow. Along with several technical manuals, and a few other things I'm reading on the side.

You get the idea :)

[Clara]

Dunearhp - I've found that to be true, more than once - and still, it's good to hear you saying it. (Especially after reading your suggestions about family and furniture, to waxwing.)

Avengardh, I think that once your mind has has a chance to rest up after all that emphasis on math... that reading will become easy again. (Having had difficulty is a valuable gift, too - a transferable insight-skill that people for whom everything has always been easy don't have).

[file cabinet]

I used to read a lot but I haven't read as much in a couple years[I suspect this is a result of internet addiction which started around 10th or 11 grade...]

[coffeezombie]

I will invoke Sturgeons law here. 90% of science fiction is crud because 90% of everything is crud.


Ha ha. Yeah, I would have to say that about only 10% of the new science fiction and fantasy that comes out is actually any good. However, in the past when I've found something new and interesting like manga, I thought a much higher percentage of it was interesting (more like 20%). Now that I am tired of that interest (perhaps only temporarily), I find only about 5% of it very interesting. Hobbies are all about finding something in which you think that *more* than 10% of it is interesting. As a result, I always seem to be jumping around from hobby to hobby.

[euterpenc]

w00t people that read :) . I'm ALWAYS reading, nonstop, and writing as well. Not much fiction though, pretty much only fiction I've read and enjoyed was LotR and Slaughterhouse Five. Philosophy and a little psychology are more my thing.