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Friday, August 19, 2011

We are what we read

Rebecca Luella Miller, of Speculative Faith, reports that there is some empirical evidence that what we read affects our personality. This is hardly a surprise, is it?

Consider this case. It is anecdotal, not experimental, but anyway:
"What made the change in Lewis? In a word, fantasy. It is no stretch to say that Lewis's faith journey began as a result of reading stories that were dripping with Christian truth -- awakening within him a desire for something he didn't possess." Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware, Finding God in the Land of Narnia (Tyndale House: 2005) The quotation is from p. xi. The stories referred to are those of George MacDonald.

Thanks for reading.

3 comments:

Fred said...

I believe it is not just what we read but the words we use when we think. We are continually creating a story in our minds, a stream of consciousness. The choice of words we use in thinking direct our thoughts. Many people complain about "politically correct" language but it is a means to restructure our thinking about gender or race for example.

atlibertytosay said...

And it's also apparent in the ScrewTape Letters by Lewis that he felt a struggle with demons trying to influence his "Christian journey".

Martin LaBar said...

Thanks, Fred. That's interesting. I hadn't thought of it, but it's true, I believe.

Thanks, atlibertytosay. Lewis was speaking for all of us, I think.