Are Books Part of a Good Life?

Do books help us have a good life?

Do we really need books? We have videos.

I heard a woman say the other day that the internet was going to put printed material out of business. I said that I believed the internet explosion was a fad, and printed material would never go out of business. Some people looked at me as if I were either from the Middle Ages or just brain-dead. I made the mistake of trying to explain that I didn’t think the internet was a fad that would disappear completely, like, say, the first printing press— although, we never know, the future might hold something we haven’t even dreamed of yet (don’t ever try explaining that kind of a thing at a yard sale, by the way). I said I believed the huge obsession with the internet is a fad, and that some day it would level out. I saw a few disbelieving faces.

Let’s face it: the internet is still relatively new. Of course we’re going to cling to it like a bunch of drowning cats. That’s what we humans tend to do. When we see something we think will give us a good life, we try it out. Occasionally, what we’re experimenting with becomes a bandwagon. We love bandwagons. But I believe we will discover that owning a computer won’t decide whether or not we have a good life. A lot of things that are getting pushed to the side right now will come back out to the front of our lives. Like books. And newspapers.

Printed material will never go out of fashion.

For one thing, we like using our imaginations, and nothing makes us imagine better than a book.

For another thing, we can take a book everywhere. Before anyone says, “I can take my iPod anywhere, too”, let me remind you that the only energy source a book requires is a person’s brain. Not only that, but the more you use your brain, the more of a good life you will have.

It’s a scientific fact. You use your brain, and it returns the favor by being more energetic. The more brainpower you use, the more brainpower you have, like building muscles. And you are also more likely to be mentally alert, as you grow older. So you can have a good life now, and have a good life in the future, as well.

Just by reading.

So what about all those precious trees we’re cutting down, in order to make paper for our books? For one thing, we can use very young growth on book paper. It doesn’t need to be old growth lumber for paper to hold together. For another thing, paper can be made out of recycled paper. And one more thing: they can make paper out of cotton. Remember the toilet tissue?

The internet is great! But it isn’t going to put the written word out of business.

Now, please excuse me. I hear a book calling my name…