Thread by @ZoharAtkins

Why should you read "Great Books"? (THREAD)

Disclaimer: I'm writing this not for people who know the joy of reading great books, or who find it to be a devotional or joyful act in itself, but for the skeptics, especially those who say that reading has "diminishing returns."

1. Reading greats books sharpens the mind. It teaches you how others have thought, and gives you more agency, more terms, more range, in how you self express, how you discern. It is a kind of power. The canon is the gym of the mind.

2. Trivialities are fun now, but will lose their value over time. Don't wait to plan for retirement. When you're old you want to know how to spend your time. Start now with the contemplative life so you're prepared.

3. Calling on the wisdom of Great books comes in handy when times are tough. We are vulnerable even if we think we are self-sufficient. Just as preppers have cans of beans in the basement, you'll want Homer or the Bible stocked on your mental shelf.

4. Diversify risk. Portfolio managers invest in different asset classes. Books are an asset class. Don't put everything in them, but as far as asset classes go, they're solid. In a time when everyone is chasing the new, and staring at a screen, old things will get you "Edge.

5. The discipline of reading difficult works builds character. Not only will you get more marshmallows later, rather than one now, but you'll get better at delaying gratification, more generally.

6. Since you won't believe me if I tell you that reading great works is a divine commandment, or a virtue, or a path to self-knowledge, let me tell you that it is your best hope of being powerful, not only now, but in the long run.

7. It is your best hope for being able to look back at your life and feel some coherence to it, some meaning to it, some sense of being connected to a great chain of being, going backwards and forwards.

8. Come to sharpen the mind, to win the debates, to own your enemies, to become articulate and interesting; stay for the awe at the genius of humankind.

Fin.

P.S- saying we shouldn't read great books because the list is exclusive is like saying we shouldn't eat lentils, because quinoa was historically excluded on the list of grains. Eat both. Debating what should be on the list is a distraction from just reading a great book.