I once heard a sentence that is very profound, and it probably means something like this: no matter how outrageous and bizarre the point of view is, as long as the number of people who hear it is enough, then one in five people will always be willing to believe it, and this sentence is very appropriate to explain the "theory of the uselessness of reading".
"Reading is useless" is a common point of view in the society in recent years, I don't know if everyone in the school days, whether because of the results continue to be unsatisfactory, and by parents or relatives so comforted: it doesn't matter if you don't read well, reading is not the only way out, you see those rich entrepreneurs in the world, a few are very highly educated, if you can't read well, then go to business, those who have good grades and are admitted to famous universities come out after graduation, and they have to work for people who graduate from high school and start a company!
I believe that many people have heard or seen similar words in TV dramas and stories, in fact, the people who say this kind of thing are, firstly, to comfort those students who are not good at reading, and secondly, to indirectly affirm the view of "the uselessness of reading" as their "people who have come over".
So, is reading useful or not? Why is there a view in society that "reading is useless"?
Image: A still from a relative comforting the child
In fact, there is a rather funny passage that can explain the view of "the uselessness of reading": at the beginning, I spent a sack of money in order to read more books, and now I have finished reading all the books and then sold them, only to find that the money from the sale cannot buy a sack.
After scrutinizing this sentence, one conclusion can be drawn: reading books does not make money, so reading is useless.
Now there are indeed many people in the society subconsciously, quietly to "study" and "make money" between a red line, the author some time ago in a relative's house to live, always heard relatives teach the two daughters to study hard, admitted to a good university, in the future to earn more money for her to spend, if you don't read well, you can only go to sweep the street, earn very little money, can't eat!
There are indeed some people in society who think that reading books is to make money, but it is not possible to make money as soon as they read a book, and there is a very important intermediate link between the two, which is to export knowledge in exchange for money.
Teachers, doctors, lawyers, civil servants, corporate employees, etc., all walks of life in society use the knowledge they have learned in exchange for wealth, and from this point of view, reading can make money.
Image: Reading stills
However, some people will argue that if the ultimate goal is to make money, reading is not the only way to make money, and that not reading will make more money than studying.
Some people will give examples, now there are many traffic stars who have not studied much, and after graduating from junior high school, they will become Xi trainees, participate in a talent show, and after their debut, they will casually receive an announcement and shoot a TV series with millions of income.
But most people are obediently, step by step to go to middle school, university, graduate school entrance examination, after coming out of the work for a few years, after the promotion and salary increase a month is only 120,000, 20,000 or 30,000 yuan, this is still the income level of college students in first- and second-tier cities, if it is a graduate of a small city or small town, the salary is pitiful.
Therefore, some people will think that after studying for so many years, investing so much time and money, but going out of society but not making any money, and even working for a few years has not earned back the college tuition, so it is useless to study!
Image: Stills from participating in the talent show
The above views are all real and existential views, and they will not be refuted, because there is such a saying: existence is reasonable!
Everyone's thoughts on this topic are different, maybe some people combine their own experience, and deeply realize that it is really useless to read books for more than ten years, they have mixed up during school, and they have not learned knowledge, and they have to work for the big boss who graduated from primary school, and they can't afford to buy a house and a car when they are old.
Therefore, when we don't know the experiences and stories of certain people, it is difficult to comment and refute anything. However, in the author's personal opinion, reading books is useful, and the benefits of reading books cannot be measured by money.
When you are bored, you can read science fiction novels to escape the troubles of the world for a while, and when you are bored, you can read some baking books, woodworking books, flower arrangement books, and learn some skills. Of course, the above is only a personal opinion, today we will take a look at what the ancients thought about reading.
Image: Read a still from a book on psychology
I don't know if you have ever learned the poem "Reading Books with Feelings", which was written by Zhu Xi. It is now included in the Chinese language book for the sixth grade of elementary school.
Zhu Xi is a famous physicist in the Southern Song Dynasty, I believe everyone is very familiar with his identity as a poet, the editor memorized a lot of poems he wrote when he was in school, but Zhu Xi's identity as a "master of science" should be a little unfamiliar.
In fact, Zhu Xi was greatly influenced by Confucianism, and his advocacy of "preserving heavenly principles and destroying people's desires" was opposed by many people, and now there are still people spraying him, in fact, Zhu Xi has too many books and quotations, and he knows literature, poetry, history, canons, Buddhism, and pre-Qin princes very well.
Therefore, he can really be regarded as a knowledgeable person, and "science" actually accounts for only a small part of Zhu Xi's whole book, and Zhu Xi has higher attainments in other aspects.
He has his own unique views on many issues, and he will not follow the crowd, for example, an apprentice asked him why all dynasties and dynasties were established but not virtuous, Zhu Xi said a paragraph, one of which was "Virtuous is not knowable". In short, many of his ways of thinking can inspire future generations.
The picture comes from the Internet: "Reading Books with Feelings"
Getting back to the point, let's continue to look at this poem, the core theme of this poem is Zhu Xi's view on "reading" and his own feelings when he reads, so does he talk about the role of reading in this poem?
Let's take a look, first of all, the first two sentences: "Half an acre of square pond is opened, and the sky and clouds and shadows wander together." The meaning is probably that the small pond is like a bright and clear mirror, refracting the brilliance of the sky and the light and shadow of the white clouds.
Under normal circumstances, everyone will read the title first and then the poem, but if someone reads the poem first and then the title, just looking at the first two sentences, it is very likely that they will think of it as a poem about the scenery, because Zhu Xi used the imagery of ponds, sky, and white clouds to describe the scenery beautifully.
But in fact, although a good article has thousands of words, but not a single sentence is nonsense, in the same way, a famous poem that has been circulated for more than 800 years is dozens of words, and each word is repeatedly scrutinized and considered by the poet, so no word is useless.
Image: Stills of Zhu Xi's portrait
Therefore, we need to combine these two lines of poetry with the theme of the article to understand that the reason why the pond can reflect the sky and the clouds is mainly because the water in the pond is very clear and deep, and if the water in the pond is very shallow and muddy, it is impossible to reflect the brilliance of the sky and the light and shadow of the white clouds so clearly and movingly.
In the same way, the more books people read, the more knowledge and truth they will be able to gain from them, the more their minds will be purified, and their minds will become very broad, and they will not be easily troubled by the mundane things in the world.
On the contrary, if you don't read many books, don't understand any big truths, don't know how to control your emotions, and don't know how to deal with people, you will end up having a messy life.
Image: Water stills of a pond
The last two lines are the essence of the whole poem, and they are also the two most widely circulated poems: "Ask where the canal is as clear as promised? Meaning: If you want to ask why the water in the pond is so clear, it's because there is a constant stream of living water at the source.
If it is linked to the theme of the poem, it is about a person who wants to keep his thinking flexible, his thoughts active and his heart pure, and not be troubled by the troubles of the world, then he should read more books and acquire more knowledge.
In fact, this is a philosophical poem, very concise and to the point, and it shows the fundamental way to keep life clear - to find its own source of living water.
Image: Read more stills
In fact, in life, many people love to think blindly when they are idle, and often think about thinking about it and walk into a dead end, and then they begin to worry about the sky and frown, but at this time, family and friends may not necessarily be with you, so you can find a little comfort from books.
If you find a book that suits you, you can quickly find the cause of your worries and depression, and then think of solutions, and then the knot in your heart will be untied.
I believe that people who read books to relieve their mood when they are troubled must be able to appreciate the true usefulness of Zhu Xi's poem, although it is only four short sentences, but he said the greatest meaning of reading, and discussed the "uselessness of reading" at the beginning, and also wondered whether reading is useless, perhaps Zhu Xi's poem is the best answer.