I believe reading to be one of the best ways to open your mind. When you’re reading, you’re really getting a chance to read a line and think about it. It is in that second, when you hold a thought in your mind, that you really grow as a person. People often say to me, “Oh forget it, I’ll just wait for the movie.” But that’s not the right way to go about life. When you’re watching a video, the next second comes too fast. You don’t have time to reflect upon what just happened. Thus, you just go with the flow and enjoy it, without thinking. When you’re watching a film with friends, you really enjoy, because you’re collectively not thinking. When you come out of the film, you realize what your real emotions are about the film, but the moment is past and you don’t think further about it.
Ever seen Friends or Seinfeld? At the end of every punch line, there’s a whole bunch of background people laughing. The show makers put that laughter there so that you don’t pause the video and think about it, you just laugh. They don’t want you to think if the show is funny enough because a lot of times the show won’t be, it’ll be ok. But when you hear other people’s laughter, you’ll be obliged to laugh. That kills your thought process.
Here’s an experiment – Ever seen a movie that you liked and some friends of yours didn’t? See the movie once more and then go to Wikipedia or IMDB and real the story from there. Think about what you liked about the story and whether it made sense when you read it. You’ll find out in an instant if the story really is that good or not.