Not very long ago, I was reading a book on time management.

Most of what the author was saying made sense: Wake up early. Listen to self-help podcasts. Meditate while walking to work.

Then he went on to describe things that are a potential waste of time: Watching TV. Surfing the Internet…I nodded my head, seeing the usual suspects. Then I came to this one:

Reading popular novels.

Several things happened.

First, I felt annoyed and defensive, probably because I happen to read a lot of fiction. It took me a moment to realize I was having a knee-jerk reaction and not paying attention to the context.

So I thought about the author’s claim for a second, and the feelings of annoyance were replaced by feelings of puzzlement and curiosity.

By “popular” novels was the author referring to Harry Potter or the latest Reese Witherspoon book club selection? Or was he talking about paperback page-turners by Lee Child and David Baldacci?

In any case, what struck me was that he put “reading popular novels” on the same level as mindlessly surfing the Internet. I wanted to know what his thoughts were on all types of fiction – and whether he believed that all fiction was less worthwhile compared to nonfiction.

Unfortunately for me, the author never addressed this question anywhere in his book. His comment, though, was part of a bigger trend that I continue to see repeated across the blogs, reading lists, and commentaries of Internet thought leaders.

This trend has almost become an implied belief:

Reading nonfiction is more helpful and more productive than reading fiction. Therefore, you should read nonfiction.

Are they right?

The Obsession with “ROI”

Look closely at the habits and lifestyles of the world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs and you’ll notice that they read a lot. Mark Cuban spends over three hours a day reading. Warren Buffet spends five to six. Bill Gates reads a book every week.

They aren’t reading Jane Austen, though (last I checked). The vast majority is nonfiction; a lot of it is related to their field of work. 

We love nonfiction because of its visible ROI: read a book called “How to (Fill-in-the-Blank)” and if it’s any good, you’ll walk away smarter and better at that thing.

Think about it:

If you want to improve your skills and be the best, you need to learn from other people. You need to stay on top of important breakthroughs in technology and world events. You need to learn not only through your own experience but vicariously, from the experiences of others.

Doing this leads to tangible results: “making money,” “saving time,” “becoming popular,” “finding love.”

We love nonfiction because of its visible ROI: read a book called “How to (Fill-in-the-Blank)” and if it’s any good, you’ll walk away smarter and better at that thing.

So where does that leave fiction?

What does the ROI look like for a Cormac McCarthy novel compared to How to Win Friends and Influence People?

Well, besides the pure joy that reading a good story can bring us, there’s actually some scientific evidence as well in favor of reading fiction.

What Fiction Does That Nonfiction Can’t Do

Over twenty years ago Keith Oatley, a Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Toronto, wrote a paper with the following title: “Why Fiction May Be Twice as True as Fact.” ¹

How can a fictional story be “true” at all (let alone twice as true) if none of the events in it actually happened?

Here’s what Oatley meant:

The world is complicated – especially the world of people. We misunderstand other people all the time. We make assumptions about them. We remember things incorrectly. Even when it comes to “facts,” we are much more biased than we’d like to admit.

Nonfiction can’t solve this problem. Not on its own, anyway.

Even the most objective, painstakingly reflective study or essay can’t fully grasp the reality of human existence. And even if it is truthful and helpful, it’s not that great at evoking our emotions and helping us understand what it’s like to be someone who’s different from us.

Now let’s take a look at fiction and what it does to our brains.

Oatley uses the analogy of a simulation running on a computer. Just as you can give a computer different inputs to see how the system might respond to different conditions or react to different stimuli, reading fiction is a way for our brains to simulate what it’s like to have different experiences and live different lives.

This is because reading fiction requires us to use our imaginations and activate different parts of our brains to put ourselves into the head of a character who may be unlike us in every way. In the process, we come to understand why that person (character) thinks and acts the way they do. We even feel for them.²

The character might be someone relatable or likable – like Matilda Wormwood or Atticus Finch. Or they might be an ax-wielding murderer of little old ladies like Rodion Raskolnikov or a pedophile rapist like Humbert Humbert.

When it comes to humans doing things that seem strange, incomprehensible, or just plain different, reading fiction offers us a window into understanding them. To relate to them and see them as more like us than we’d like to admit.³

In the safety of our “simulated space,” we can better understand the minds and lives of criminals, victims, mentally ill people, and people of different races, genders, professions, ages, sexual orientations, nationalities, and religions.

“Can’t I do that by watching a movie?”

Sort of. But it’s not the same.

One big difference is that reading is more internal than viewing. Instead of merely observing a person (character) from the outside, we get their innermost thoughts via the narrator. We get their point of view firsthand, as though looking through a window. In a sense, we become that person momentarily.

Fiction is also much better at expressing ideas that are subtle and complicated. Oatley argues that it even helps you understand yourself better.

If you’ve ever had a bad breakup and wondered why the hell you felt the way you did, or if there’s someone in your life who pisses you off for no explainable reason, fiction acts as a mirror of insight.

Great writers of fiction can explain these experiences in much better words than we ever could, helping us realize “Ah-hah, that’s why! It’s just not me.” It’s harder to be narcissistic if you read a lot of fiction because you realize that you aren’t so different from other people (hopefully, this is also very comforting).

You can read nothing but nonfiction and learn plenty of things that will take you far in life.

But if you want to practice being a better, happier, more empathetic person then reading more fiction just might be the creative solution you need.

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Read Next: The Surprising Power of Downward Counterfactual Thinking→

1. Oatley, K. (1999). Why Fiction May be Twice as True as Fact: Fiction as Cognitive and Emotional Simulation. Review of General Psychology, 3(2), Page Numbers.
2. As just one example, a study in Italy showed that students who read the Harry Potter books experienced less prejudice toward marginalized groups.
3. To understand just how powerful fiction is in this respect, think of all the fiction titles that have been banned from libraries both recently and in the past.