We will see below what are the psychological benefits of reading biographies, we know that reading has an impact on our psychological and emotional well-being, it is a very effective way to keep our brain active and improve our empathy and creativity, this brings us closer to ambiguous thinking and increases neuronal connectivity in the brain, among others.
If we also look at the benefits that each literary genre adds to the previous ones, the list of benefits will grow considerably. They say reading biographies is like stying on a giant’s shoulders and it’s true!It is a very effective way to gain different and superior perspectives.
- Reading in detail to ordinary people who do extraordinary things is an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
- That’s the main difference between reading fiction and reading about real people like you and me.
- From a psychological point of view.
- Reading biographies can be a very effective tool for developing skills.
- And skills.
- Below we will see some of the benefits that this type of reading can bring us.
There is no doubt that life is a great teacher, the knowledge of life is, in fact, accumulated knowledge, it influences us, even when we do not realize, this knowledge of life acts as a counselor, as a reservoir of wisdom.
Of course, a person cannot accumulate all the experiences of life, but that does not mean that we have to give up lessons, knowing the lives of others through their biographies helps us acquire this knowledge of life and experiences lived, achievements and failures. Acts and consequences, recognitions and injustices.
Reading biographies is also reading about what surrounds us and about the social and environmental conditions of the chosen historical character. Sometimes history is learned more through its protagonists than through the great story treatises.
Knowing history helps us understand our present and the world around us, knowing the cultural references that influence us helps us understand why certain facts, including some attitudes of our own or others, this gives us valuable tools to face the world.
“Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it” – George Santayana-
Self-discovering is one of the processes that helps us generate a concept of oneself, through the details of the experiences of others, their situations and limitations, it will be easier to get an idea of who we are in comparison.
It also expands the scope and opinions we have on certain topics, this allows us to see the world differently and get different points of view, or on the contrary, they give us arguments that support our values or beliefs from other angles.
Many biographies of important and notable people contain many lessons about the fear of failure. We have the strange idea that success is a firm and straight path that will take us where we want to go.
Reading the lives of successful people will make us understand that this path is neither straight nor regular, that behind each success there are usually several failed attempts, which we call failures, but which they took as lessons with which they were able to move forward and not give up. Without defeats, we wouldn’t learn anything.
This happens with nonfiction reading in general, but the advantage of doing so by reading biographies is that in real life many situations occur.
We can approach many worlds, with very different social contexts than we may not have access to in our own lives, so the knowledge acquired through this reading comes from various fields. Improved cultural levels directly influence our self-esteem.
In addition to the various advantages of reading biographies, there’s another reason you can choose them: biographies are often easier-to-read books. For these reasons, reading this type of literature is more than recommended.
Learning from great men and women (and also from good and bad) puts our world in perspective. Knowing how they faced their problems, how they believed in themselves, or how they were able to find and explore their talents, what and how they guided their lives, is an incredible source of knowledge that helps guide ours.