Does it matter what is read?
I can see the logic of this point of view, but after my latest read, I’ve found I’m still quite bitchy.
Hey, is that a book in your pocket?
Finally, science validates my obsessive perusal of old Pokemon video game manuals. Congratulations, 'cause about three-quarters of that thousand souls you’re now dating are Pikachu.
ITT grouchy people who, ironically, didn’t read the article. 
Studies show people who read the comments soon go insane.
Fear and mistrust usually stems from ignorance. Smarter people tend to be more generally/widely knowledgeable and well read, and so intelligence and a trusting nature go hand in hand. People with a generally trusting nature are easy to get along with.
I agree smarter people are more likely to enjoy reading and read more often. I don’t know about intelligence and a trusting nature going hand in hand though. Most young children and those with IQs of young children are more trusting than those with IQs of an average adult. It is true that on average smarter people are better behaved than less intelligent people. Ask any teacher that has been stuck teaching a class of academically struggling students. It is much easier to teach the advance class of students where you are less likely to have behavioural problems. Another example is drunks as they drink more and more their IQ temporarily drops and their behaviour becomes more obnoxious. I don’t think reading in of itself will make a person better behaved on the whole. It will just keep them busy and not bothering anybody else but once they are done reading they are free again to be a jerk if they want to.
Well, I have concrete proof that reading correlates with romance. Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair: http://www.theatlasphere.com/dating.
I was not impressed, a shallow, self congratulatory article. Back to my books.
EWWW! Maybe it’s good that they pair off and keep themselves out of the normal dating pool?
Does it work with fiction only, or does nonfic and sci/tech literature count as well?
I mostly don’t read fiction (due to time constraints and inability to track who-is-who that kind of dampens the enjoyment, thanks A.C. Clarke for having only a handful of caracter in the stories). In turn, I can talk about materials, fire, electricity and electronics biotech and other stuff, and I suspect that thanks to my reading choices the only kind of dating that’ll be available for me in the future is the radiocarbon kind.
Although I’m a reader, I think this article is starting from the end rather than the beginning.
Smart people who are easy to get along with enjoy reading. Reading is often seen as a sign of intelligence because it requires the ability to adopt other points of view in order to digest the story. It also requires a suspension of disbelief.
Books are also a form of media that’s not quick to finish. You can watch a movie in 2 hours, but it easily takes a few days to finish your average book with steady reading. The ability to remember characters, plots, and other elements from the book is not always easy, and again, requires a certain level of intelligence.
But for the article’s thesis to be true, it would mean that people who exclusively read stories that adhere to their worldview would ultimately be easy to get along with, which isn’t true. If you only read a certain kind of romance novel, or a certain kind of “men with guns” thrillers, because they conform to your worldview, it’s not going to expose you to new ideas or new points of view. It’s just more of the same, like watching the same TV shows or movies or talking with the same people.
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