It seems to me that fiction is much better a communicating insight into the emotional nature and patterns of human beings than it is for more intellectual forms of insight. If the fiction rings true, the reader will empathize with the characters and learn from their experiences what the characters themselves learned.
If the fiction rings true, the reader will empathize with the characters and learn from their experiences what the characters themselves learned.
I think that depends mostly on individual reading style, actually. I tend to ignore emotional situations unless they’re extremely obvious, because I find them hard to follow (which is probably because I haven’t spent much energy on learning to follow them… no, I don’t know which came first), which leads to not having much investment in characters compared to how most people seem to react. I find it much easier to gather insights about things like how groups might be organized, or how problems might be solved, and I do pick up the type of insight mentioned in the original post, too.
Agreed. Part of the reason I love reading Asimov is that he focuses so much on the ideas he’s presenting, without much attempt to invest the reader emotionally in the characters. I find the latter impairs my ability to synthesize useful general truths from fiction (especially short stories, my favorite form of Asimov).
It seems to me that fiction is much better a communicating insight into the emotional nature and patterns of human beings than it is for more intellectual forms of insight. If the fiction rings true, the reader will empathize with the characters and learn from their experiences what the characters themselves learned.
I think that depends mostly on individual reading style, actually. I tend to ignore emotional situations unless they’re extremely obvious, because I find them hard to follow (which is probably because I haven’t spent much energy on learning to follow them… no, I don’t know which came first), which leads to not having much investment in characters compared to how most people seem to react. I find it much easier to gather insights about things like how groups might be organized, or how problems might be solved, and I do pick up the type of insight mentioned in the original post, too.
Agreed. Part of the reason I love reading Asimov is that he focuses so much on the ideas he’s presenting, without much attempt to invest the reader emotionally in the characters. I find the latter impairs my ability to synthesize useful general truths from fiction (especially short stories, my favorite form of Asimov).