MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Are readers more educated than non-readers?

Rainmaker · 08-03-2011, 08:03 PM

Disclaimer: I m just stating a generalization, I'm aware that there are many non educated people who are avid readers, and highly educated people who haven't even read their country's constitution.

I guess the logical reasoning would be that this 3 factors go together:
social-economic status
education level
avid Readers

A high economic status, gives you a wider variety of options and usually richer (in content) to choose from (schools/highschools/universities). An example is school/Highschool which include in their program a foreign language, even they let you choose between 2 or 3 foreign languages (english, chinese, french, german; most populars here in a spanish speaking country). So it would be a logical guess to say that people in the top half of the society pyramid tend to be more educated readers.
Having a wider variety and better options to choose from (schools/highschools/universities), possible would make them more interest in reading, and having easier and more diversified access to reading material.

Of course, there are exceptions. Natural curiosity.
For example: I would hate reading classics in Highschool, until my last years. When I started going to University, I only find time to read during Summer vacations (December, January and February), and would read up to 4 to 5 books during those 3 months, and only 1 or 2 during the rest of the year.
Also, because books are expenseive here (even the paperback one) I would make a search before and select the most promising and interesting ones.

Now that I have a kindle, its MUCH easier for me to have access to books than before. And I m reading an average of 1 to 2 books a month (depending if I'm during between semester, during exams weeks, etc).

Anecdote:
There was this book I wanted to read, "The Gun Seller" by Hugh Laurie. I wanted to read it in english, so not not to miss the puns, also because books tend to be much better in the language of the writer, and because neutral spanish sounds awful in my humble opinion.
I asked in the local libraries, and none would have it; i asked in libraries dedicated to english books, those didn't have it either. Though in one they offerred me to provide them the ISBN of the book, and they would give me an estimate of time and price.
The paperback was $9 back then, and they wanted to charge me $20.
I thought it an outrage. So I printed it at home in A5 paper (A5 = half A4). and sent it to get it "glued". I spent $5. (though the white impression sheets are hard on the eyes after a while, they reflect light a lot compared to mate paperbook sheets).

08-03-2011, 08:03 PM	#30
Rainmaker Zealot Posts: 103 Karma: 185586 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle 3G	Disclaimer: I m just stating a generalization, I'm aware that there are many non educated people who are avid readers, and highly educated people who haven't even read their country's constitution. I guess the logical reasoning would be that this 3 factors go together: social-economic status education level avid Readers A high economic status, gives you a wider variety of options and usually richer (in content) to choose from (schools/highschools/universities). An example is school/Highschool which include in their program a foreign language, even they let you choose between 2 or 3 foreign languages (english, chinese, french, german; most populars here in a spanish speaking country). So it would be a logical guess to say that people in the top half of the society pyramid tend to be more educated readers. Having a wider variety and better options to choose from (schools/highschools/universities), possible would make them more interest in reading, and having easier and more diversified access to reading material. Of course, there are exceptions. Natural curiosity. For example: I would hate reading classics in Highschool, until my last years. When I started going to University, I only find time to read during Summer vacations (December, January and February), and would read up to 4 to 5 books during those 3 months, and only 1 or 2 during the rest of the year. Also, because books are expenseive here (even the paperback one) I would make a search before and select the most promising and interesting ones. Now that I have a kindle, its MUCH easier for me to have access to books than before. And I m reading an average of 1 to 2 books a month (depending if I'm during between semester, during exams weeks, etc). Anecdote: There was this book I wanted to read, "The Gun Seller" by Hugh Laurie. I wanted to read it in english, so not not to miss the puns, also because books tend to be much better in the language of the writer, and because neutral spanish sounds awful in my humble opinion. I asked in the local libraries, and none would have it; i asked in libraries dedicated to english books, those didn't have it either. Though in one they offerred me to provide them the ISBN of the book, and they would give me an estimate of time and price. The paperback was $9 back then, and they wanted to charge me $20. I thought it an outrage. So I printed it at home in A5 paper (A5 = half A4). and sent it to get it "glued". I spent $5. (though the white impression sheets are hard on the eyes after a while, they reflect light a lot compared to mate paperbook sheets).