I Hate Reading
Summary
TLDRIn this candid monologue, the speaker shares their aversion to reading, a sentiment rooted in childhood and exacerbated by school assignments and parental pressure. Despite recognizing the benefits of reading, they express a preference for fast-paced internet content and a sense of loneliness when listening to audiobooks. The video also touches on the impact of quarantine and suggests watching videos or playing Animal Crossing to stay engaged.
Takeaways
- 📚 The speaker finds reading boring and associates it with negative experiences from school.
- 🌙 They describe a common romanticized image of reading but feel disconnected from it due to personal dislike.
- 🤔 The speaker acknowledges the supposed benefits of reading but struggles to connect with them personally.
- 🏫 There's a hint of 'reading PTSD' from school, where reading was associated with tasks and stress.
- 📖 A fond memory of reading for fun during childhood is contrasted with later negative experiences.
- 📚 The enjoyment of reading was diminished by school assignments and the pressure to analyze literature.
- 👎 A strong aversion to reading developed, especially when it felt forced or like a punishment.
- 👩👦 The speaker's mother's well-intentioned efforts to encourage reading may have backfired.
- 🐉 Faking reading and the resentment towards certain books due to forced reading are mentioned.
- 🔄 The speaker tried to return to reading on their own terms but found that the negative associations remained.
- 🎧 They also tried audiobooks but felt lonely without the visual component of reading.
- 👀 The preference for visual content over reading is highlighted, with a mention of Twitch streams as a preferred alternative.
- 🏠 The speaker works from home and suggests watching videos or playing Animal Crossing as quarantine activities.
Q & A
What is the speaker's opinion about reading books in libraries?
-The speaker finds reading books in libraries boring and associates it with an activity that was more common in the past.
What does the speaker describe as the 'poetic life' of some people?
-The 'poetic life' refers to people who enjoy a cozy setting with a warm blanket, a good book, a warm cup of chamomile tea, and a cat, which the speaker finds appealing but not personally enjoyable due to a cat allergy.
Why does the speaker have a negative association with reading?
-The speaker associates reading with school assignments and the pressure to analyze and memorize content, which led to a form of 'reading PTSD' and a loss of enjoyment.
What was the speaker's childhood experience with reading?
-The speaker used to love reading, especially Geronimo Stilton books with fun text and pictures, and could read a 300-page book in two days during elementary school.
How did school reading assignments affect the speaker's view on reading?
-School reading assignments, especially those that were boring and difficult to understand, took the fun away from reading for the speaker.
What is the speaker's opinion on the necessity of reading in English class?
-The speaker questions the necessity of reading cryptic books with heavy symbolism in English class, suggesting that understanding spoken English should be enough.
How did the speaker's mother influence their attitude towards reading?
-The speaker's mother enforced reading during summer vacations, which led to a negative association with reading as the speaker felt it was a form of punishment.
What was the speaker's strategy to avoid reading during enforced reading periods?
-The speaker would fake reading by moving the bookmark forward and sitting idle, rather than engaging with the book.
Why did the speaker try to restart reading the same book later?
-The speaker decided to give the book another chance on their own terms without the pressure of being forced to read, and found that they enjoyed it.
How does the speaker feel about audiobooks?
-The speaker finds audiobooks lonely and prefers having visual content or streams in the background while doing other activities.
What alternative activities does the speaker suggest for people during quarantine?
-The speaker suggests watching their videos in a loop or playing Animal Crossing, and encourages others to share their friend codes for the game.
Outlines
📚 Disenchantment with Reading: A Personal Narrative
The speaker expresses a personal aversion to reading, which they find boring and associates with negative school experiences. They recount their childhood enthusiasm for reading Geronimo Stilton books but how forced reading in school turned them off the activity. The speaker humorously describes the stereotypical cozy reading scenario others enjoy, which they cannot relate to due to a cat allergy and a general dislike for reading. They also share anecdotes about faking reading during summer vacations to avoid the task, only to find enjoyment in reading the same books later on their own terms. The paragraph captures a struggle between societal expectations of reading and personal enjoyment, tainted by past obligations.
🎮 From Reading to Gaming: A Shift in Leisure Preferences
In the second paragraph, the speaker discusses their shift from reading to other forms of entertainment, particularly gaming. They mention their unsuccessful attempts to enjoy audiobooks and music, which they find isolating without the visual accompaniment they prefer. The speaker admits to spending time watching YouTube videos or Twitch streams as a way to combat feelings of loneliness. They acknowledge the value of reading as a hobby for others but are candid about their own lack of interest in picking up the habit. The speaker lightheartedly suggests watching their videos or playing Animal Crossing as alternatives to reading, offering a glimpse into their current lifestyle during quarantine and their desire to connect with others who share similar interests.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Reading
💡PTSD
💡Symbolism
💡To Kill a Mockingbird
💡Cliffnotes
💡Parenting
💡Quarantine
💡Animal Crossing
💡Audiobooks
💡Twitch
💡Fast-paced content
Highlights
The speaker expresses a personal dislike for reading, contrasting it with the common romanticized image of reading as a cozy activity.
Mentions a humorous anecdote about receiving a cure egg as a gift instead of buying one on sale at Target.
Discusses having a cat allergy, adding a layer of personal complexity to the common imagery associated with reading.
Reflects on the idea that reading is calming and beneficial for the brain, despite not personally experiencing these benefits.
Shares a personal history of developing a negative association with reading due to school assignments and parental pressure.
Recalls fond childhood memories of reading Geronimo Stilton books and the joy of discovering new books.
Describes the shift in enjoyment from reading freely to feeling forced to read certain books by school and parents.
Expresses frustration with the requirement to analyze books for symbolism and plot, which feels tedious and unenjoyable.
Muses on the irony of later enjoying a book that was previously disliked when read under duress.
Shares the story of faking reading to avoid the chore of reading books assigned by parents.
Explains the emotional response of associating reading with punishment and the resulting aversion to it.
Contrasts the speaker's aversion to reading with the enjoyment others find in it, acknowledging differing preferences.
Discusses the difficulty of enjoying audiobooks due to a preference for visuals and the feeling of loneliness they induce.
Reflects on the preference for background noise like YouTube videos or Twitch streams over music or audiobooks.
Endorses the idea of personal preference in hobbies and interests, suggesting that not everyone needs to enjoy reading.
Offers alternative suggestions for activities during quarantine, such as watching videos or playing Animal Crossing.
Invites viewers to share their Animal Crossing friend codes for a sense of community during quarantine.
Transcripts
reading books libraries it's all boring
I don't know if that's an unpopular
opinion or not when I was growing up it
was pretty normal but now I always hear
people gush about how great it is to
bundle up in a warm blanket with quote a
good book while the faint light of the
fall evening peeks out of their cracked
windows and hits their collection of
plants perfectly they've got a warm cup
of chamomile tea they've prepared with
the cure egg they use daily and actually
it's a funny story they were about to
get one at Target because they were on
sale but they received one as a gift
instead what a coincidence huh and they
have a cat I'm not saying that isn't a
poetic life you've got going on over
there but I still don't like reading and
have a cat allergy it's kind of
complicated the thought of reading
sounds really nice to me it's supposed
to be calming and good for your brain in
some sort of way I don't know how
exactly but people repeated all the time
so it might be true but I think I've got
some weird reading PTSD from school
because the other part of my brain
thinks about how boring and slow and too
quiet it's gonna be and I feel like I
have to take notes and memorize things
and identify the plot points and know
the names and symbolisms and To Kill a
Mockingbird and oh god was I supposed to
read after chapter 7 by Thursday or
through it I used to love reading I
still have the strong memory of going to
my elementary school's library and being
excited to check out the next Geronimo
Stilton book because I love the pictures
and fun text they had they always wrote
the word cheese like this and being able
to read books that had more than 10
words on the page was impressive to a
six-year-old whenever I found a book I
like touring up I would read it non-stop
I was able to crush a 300 page in two
days which I don't think is considered
impressive anymore but it was in fifth
grade and look that was the only South
fourth I had all right but when school
started making us read books by force
did kinda took the fun away from me I
don't like being told what to do with my
free time especially if you're gonna
make me read a book written in the 1940s
that I need cliffnotes to decode just to
realize that all the animals were
communists also it's 20% of my grade I
get it though what else are we gonna do
in English class we can all understand
each other right
you were speak in English
I that's gotta count for something right
but the more I had to read really
cryptic books in my spare time where the
symbolism is in the color of the main
characters curtains and I'm not even
observant enough to realize they had
curtains led me to not really having fun
and also feeling like an idiot I like my
subtlety like I like my coffee splash in
my face how am I supposed to know what
the a stands for adultery I don't know I
could mean a woman for all I know
asparagus and all that isn't anything
new everyone complains about English
assignments everyone hates reading The
Scarlet Letter everyone thinks school
should die however something that also
locked in my disdain for reading was my
mom hi mom of course as a parent you
don't want your child to do nothing but
play video games all day that obviously
leads to undeniable life failure so
what's the solution make them read more
and on paper I don't think there's
anything wrong with that honestly I'll
probably use that parenting technique
too when applicable I think my mom made
the obvious good parenting decision but
as the victim here
I believe I fell in the small minority
where it had the overall opposite effect
during summer vacation my mom would
always tell me that I needed to read at
least two books so I don't forget how to
read whenever my mom would walk in on my
brother and I playing Mario Kart
together in the living room she would
ask if we've read yet today which we
would respond
no because readings for chumps and then
she'd lock us in our rooms to be chumps
I started hating reading so much I would
rather do literally nothing than read a
book there were a couple summers where I
faked reading entire books because I
just didn't want to read that much there
is this one about dragons I think called
the secret country and I still remember
that just looking at the cover would put
me in a bad mood because of hatred
association screw your secret country
when I was being forced to read I would
sit angrily on my bed open the book move
the bookmark of reasonable amount
forward to make it look like I read and
then just sit there for 30 minutes
staring at it it was boring and I don't
know what was wrong with me I could have
had at least a decent time if I'd
tried to read the dang book but I guess
it turned into a dignity thing actually
the ironic part is maybe a year or so
later I decided to restart the same book
and give it another shot on my own terms
and I finished it in two days it was
pretty good I did it again with another
book called Molly moon and the morphing
mystery it's like the fifth book in this
Molly moon series it's been a while so I
don't really remember this story but
it's about this orphan who can hypnotize
people and has a pug anyway it's funky
because I actually read the first few
books of the series on my own and
remember really liking them I would read
them any chance like God but as soon as
I was forced to read this one I just
decided I'd rather literally waste my
time and sit alone rebelling against a
reasonable parenting but this time I
never went back to read it I I think
that might have been the point of no
return for me I think the association of
reading is a necessity or some sort of
punishment has deep rooted itself in me
and now I just feel like reading isn't
fun or I'm in trouble for something even
though I live alone
I've tried listening to audiobooks but
honestly they make me feel really lonely
I don't know why it might be the lack of
visuals I like pictures you know so no
one else is around it's the same with
music I've never been a big music person
so whenever I try to sit down and do
something while listening to music it
somehow enhances this feeling of being
alone and like time is going by slower
which makes me uncomfortable so I always
have either youtube videos or more
recently twitch streams in the
background I'm still not super used to
twitch yet but I like riu cars stuff
he plays Mario maker sometimes I wish I
read more it might be good for me to
slow down instead of always consuming a
fast paced content on the internet but
on the other hand I think it's just a
preference I have that's been cemented
with bad association if you like reading
I think that's really great I've got a
lot of friends who like reading and it's
cool that you've got a really nice hobby
you can fall back on to de-stress or
however you people feel while staring at
words all day I was gonna say you should
recommend a good book I should give a
try but I took a second to think about
if I would actually try to read any
suggestions and being real with myself
the answer is no so enjoy that chamomile
tea hey hey how is everyone doing at
home I suppose I'm lucky that I work
from home and rarely leave the house so
quarantine isn't hitting me too hard but
to those of you who are outside people
needing suggestions may I suggest
watching all of my videos in an infinite
loop until we can leave our houses or
animal crossing I actually recommend
that one more any Mutual's who are
playing send me your friend code because
I want to add you I've been doing this
thing where before I open up the game
I'll look at my friend list and see how
many people online are playing Animal
Crossing normally it's a hundred percent
anyway however you're keeping yourself
busy during quarantine I hope you're
doing well and thanks for watching my
video bye
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