Malorie Blackman
I have often tried to ponder the link between reading, fiction in particular, and empathy.
In my mind it would be interesting to see how many of the big readers that I know, are also empathetic folk. Off the top of my head I think that there is a huge overlap in that Venn diagram.
And I love the a person as clever and renowned as Malorie Blackman thinks the same! The way writing/literature/fiction can spark an imagination, and can create whole worlds and experiences far beyond our own is the key to helping us realise that there are so many worlds out there, so many lived experiences that are different to our own.
I also often wonder if avid readers are also those people in a discussion who will stop and say "well, that could be because maybe they..." which is a roundabout way of saying that the person has considered that others may be acting or behaving in certain ways because of something particular to their life. They may be the people who don't just observe behaviour and assess it from their own perspective, rather they might be the people who can imagine differing reasons or motivations for folk with different experience to their own. Empathy.
I am enjoying pondering my Venn diagram of readers and empathy; and now pondering conversationalists who offer a perspective different to their own...
Me considering books and words transformed, and different perspectives...
Density 1-6 by Liu Wei, Sydney 2023
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I appreciate your thoughts and comments; thanks for taking the time.