How Reading Affects Your Brain

As you read these words, your brain is decoding a series of abstract symbols and synthesizing the results into complex ideas. It’s an amazing process. The English writer Katie Oldham described the “surreal” act of reading a book this way: “You stare at marked slices of tree for hours on end, hallucinating vividly.”

And as if it weren’t already strange enough, consider this: If you do enough of it—that is, read a lot—it may not only rewire parts of your brain, but perhaps even make you a nicer person. (Maybe. More on that below.)

While the brain remains a massive and often murky frontier for scientific research, we’re devoted fans of the written word—and we’re always keen to learn more about the neurological effects of one of our favorite pastimes.

A recent adaptation

The act of reading hinges upon not one part of the brain but the interactions among several, which have to do with recognizing symbols, relating them to sounds and spoken language, and ultimately extracting meaning. That’s because, from an evolutionary standpoint, reading and the human brain are relatively new acquaintances. (In fact, the extent to which language—written or not—is a built-in function of the brain has itself been a subject of ongoing debate.)

To frame this another way, “We were never born to read.” So begins Maryanne Wolf in her book Proust and the Squid:

Human beings invented reading only a few thousand years ago. And with this invention, we rearranged the very organization of our brain, which in turn expanded the ways we were able to think, which altered the intellectual evolution of our species. . . . Our ancestors’ invention could come about only because of the human brain’s extraordinary ability to make new connections among its existing structures, a process made possible by the brain’s ability to be reshaped by experience.

—Maryanne Wolf

(Wolf has also noted that because the act of reading integrates other functions that have to do with your sense of place, as well as touch, diminishing those senses—as reading on a screen instead of a page often does—can make long reads tougher to navigate and harder to remember afterward.)

Just as the brain can learn to take on the multifarious requirements of processing language from symbols—thanks to a property called neuroplasticity—it seems apt to retain the effects of doing so, as well.

For instance, researchers at Emory University found that reading a novel heightens connections in the parts of the brain that deal with language reception. The study’s lead author, neuroscientist Gregory Berns, says it also taps into a process known as grounded cognition, by which reading about an action such as swimming activates neurons that are associated with that act, even while you’re sitting still:

The neural changes that we found associated with physical sensation and movement systems suggest that reading a novel can transport you into the body of the protagonist. . . . We already knew that good stories can put you in someone else’s shoes in a figurative sense. Now we’re seeing that something may also be happening biologically.

—Gregory Berns

Berns says it’s worth noting these effects aren’t limited to the moments while you’re reading; rather, they’ve been detected via brain scans several days after the fact. Even if a book doesn’t change your life, it might change your week.

Enhancing empathy?

That transportive property by which fiction can project readers into other people’s lives may also help us better relate in real life. Such was the finding of a 2013 study at The New School in New York, which found this benefit specific to the readers of literary fiction: They seem to excel at tests that involved understanding other people’s feelings.

That result did not hold for the readers of nonfiction or genre fiction, by the way. But before you toss out your beach reads and histories in order to focus on the complete works of Chekhov, you might want to be wary of headlines that overhype the conclusion—e.g., “‘Mind-Reading’ Skills Boosted By Reading Literature, Study Suggests.” The brain is monstrously complicated; we still have much to learn of its machinations.

Still, the suggestion seems to get some credence from more recent work by Keith Oatley, a University of Toronto cognitive psychologist who also happens to be a novelist. Fiction, Oatley says, is akin to a flight simulator—a kind of life simulation that allows us to gain experience without, you know, crashing and burning.

When we read about other people, we can imagine ourselves into their position and we can imagine it’s like being that person. . . . That enables us to better understand people, better cooperate with them.

—Keith Oatley, cognitive psychologist

There are skeptics, however, who worry such interpretations risk unduly narrowing the benefits of an activity we ultimately do for pleasure. Rather than “literature as PX90 workout for the soul,” book columnist Mark O’Connell argues, “I wouldn’t want to be without those books or my having read them, and . . . their importance to me is mostly unrelated to any power they might have to make me a more considerate person.”

Reading may just help your brain chill

Whether it ultimately makes you a better person or just a happier one, there is research suggesting the out-of-body experience that comes with a good book might be the empirically best form of relaxation. That’s from the work of David Lewis, a cognitive neuropsychologist at the University of Sussex:

This is more than merely a distraction, but an active engaging of the imagination as the words on the printed page stimulate your creativity and cause you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness.

—David Lewis

That also seems to hold true even if you’re not inclined to tangle with the likes of Tolstoy while trying to de-stress: “It really doesn’t matter what book you read,” Lewis says, so long as it’s “thoroughly engrossing.”

Whether you read to soak in brilliant writerly techniques for your own next draft, or simply because it’s too loud on the train to enjoy podcasts—and whether you prefer leather-bound first editions or the alluring glow and convenience of a smart phone—Grammarly is glad to be part of the way you enjoy words.

Earliest Convenience: Is It Awkward to Use This Phrase?

Your out-of-office email message says, “I’m away from my desk right now, but I’ll get back to you at my earliest convenience.” Have you created a grievous business faux pas? Surely, you meant well. How could it possibly be impolite to say that you’ll do something just as soon as it’s convenient for you?

Language has power. Words and phrases are open to interpretation. They can convey a certain tone, depending on the context in which they’re used.

Mark Twain said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” The trick to clear communication lies in choosing words and phrases that are less likely to be misinterpreted—the lightning bugs rather than the lightning.

Is there a problem with “earliest convenience”?

As impolite phrases go, there are certainly worse offenses. Whether this one rubs us the wrong way depends on the context in which it’s used.

At my earliest convenience

Let’s look at our out-of-office message example from above.

I’m away from my desk right now, but I’ll get back to you at my earliest convenience.

Our Verdict: Don’t use

Saying you’ll return someone’s email or call at your earliest convenience sounds impolite. Yes, you mean that you’ll get back to the person who’s contacted you as soon as you can, but what the recipient hears is something more like, “I’ll get back to you when (and maybe if) it’s convenient for me.” The implication is that you’ll do it when you feel like it, or when you’re good and ready, or maybe never. Snooty!

At your earliest convenience

But what if you’re using “at your earliest convenience” to tell someone that you’re okay with them getting around to your request when it’s convenient for them? Let’s look at an email between colleagues, John and Mary.

Hi Mary,

I’m going to need our profit and loss statement from Q1 in order to prepare a report. Would you send it to me at your earliest convenience?

Thanks, John

Our Verdict Okay to use, but . . .

. . . there are better ways to express that a request isn’t urgent. Although it isn’t rude to tell Mary that it’s okay for her to tend to your request when it’s convenient, “at your earliest convenience” still falls short on a few counts.

• It’s not specific enough. You’ve told Mary you need something, but you didn’t tell her when you absolutely need it by. She could assume you don’t really need it at all. A better option would be “. . . at your earliest convenience, or no later than [date].”
• It sounds jargony. One of the reasons many people dislike “at your earliest convenience” is that it sounds like business jargon—something we all love to hate. Use plain language instead.
• It’s easily misinterpreted. What if Mary sees your request as urgent when you meant to say that you were in no hurry? She may take time out of her day to rush through your task, which could turn out to be anything but convenient for her.

Alternatives to “Earliest Convenience”

As phrases go, dropping “earliest convenience” from your repertoire is the safest bet. But what should you use instead?

At my earliest convenience

We’ve already stated that you should drop “at my earliest convenience” from workplace and personal communication tout de suite. It comes across as inconsiderate, if not outright rude.

If you do have time to honor a request, instead of saying you’ll get around to it when it’s convenient, tell the person when they can expect your response. (“I’ll reply when I return to the office on [date].”)

At your earliest convenience

Although there’s nothing wrong with this phrase, it might actually be too polite, or at least too open-ended. Although you could use softer, less jaron-laden language like “whenever you have time” or “as soon as you’re able”, once again, we prefer specificity.

Let’s revisit the John and Mary email example and make it more specific.

Hi Mary,

I’m going to need our profit and loss statement from Q1 to prepare a report I’ll be presenting next Monday. Would you be able to send me the P&L no later than Wednesday of this week?

Thanks, John

Here, instead of telling Mary to get around to sending the P&L statement whenever it’s convenient for her, and leaving her to wonder how soon he needs them, John has used a call-to-action to ask whether she would be able to send them over by Wednesday.

Now, Mary knows what John needs and when he needs it. Plus, having the CTA in the form of a question could prompt her to reply, letting him know whether she’ll be able to accommodate the request.

Bonus: Mary’s reply will document the exchange. If she says that yes, she can have the P&L statement ready by Wednesday and doesn’t deliver, John can follow up. If she still doesn’t respond, he can point to this email trail when he has to explain why the P&L didn’t make it into his report. Way to cover your backside, John!

7 Writing Tips That Will Help You at Work

Let’s get the bad news over with first: no matter how much you write, it will probably never become the kind of mindlessly automatic task for which you’re fully free to zone out.

In other words, writing steadily for an afternoon will never be as meditative as a long drive down an empty highway. You have to keep filling the progress bar yourself. Seated at the keyboard, every moment a writer spends mentally compiling a grocery list or critiquing the coffee shop’s playlist is a moment that zero writing is done. It’s difficult.

That said, the upsides are many. If you’re the type for whom writing is mandatory—you don’t feel normal if you’re not stringing words together in your mind—then this list is for you. Here, we appreciate not just the handy tips that guide us to write better, but the accompanying lessons that have enhanced our very lives.

1Know how to open and expand your case

Thoughtful prioritization is essential not just to writing well, but to many aspects of effective communication. A good storyteller’s entry point is deliberate. From there, you have to recognize the difference between a telling nuance and a meaningless detail; pruning your sentences accordingly leads to a tight, muscular draft.

But this proclivity to discard extraneous asides has applications beyond the realm of word economy, or writing altogether: knowing how to decide your point and establish it forcefully can help in all manner of real-life interactions.

Whether you’re trying to win over a hiring committee or vying for the attention of a harried doctor, being able to succinctly and understandably summarize complex matters is an invaluable skill.

2You can’t win ’em all, but you can up your odds

There’s no on switch for creativity. Some days, it may take just a few short hours for a thousand pristine words to come pouring out of your fingertips like they’ve been waiting for someone to open the spigot. But other days, dragging even a few hundred words out of your mind and onto the page can be a bruising struggle.

Seasoned writers sometimes look at this the way a veteran poker player thinks about luck. You’d be a fool to presume you can control such variance, but with diligence, you can situate yourself to reap the maximum benefit while surviving the attendant rough patches. As a writer, if you find peace with this, the other vicissitudes of life will be that much less tilting.

3Hone not just presence of mind, but also endurance

There are a million jobs where the first thing you do after showing up is put your brain in a drawer and forget everything until it’s time to clock out. For better and for worse, writing isn’t one of them.

Writers in dynamic environments like agile startups and fast-paced newsrooms have to quickly grow their capacity to stay engaged—you’re constantly processing new information, communicating your appraisal of it, refining your decisions and explaining why. Practicing doing all this with grace and spirit is by turns taxing and rewarding. Some even say it’s a bit like a game.

4Plumb new and multifarious opportunities to learn

As writers, some of the lessons we glean are subtle: we notice some prose that overworks a distracting adjective like zestful, and like a young Stephen King, vow to never touch such a silly word again. The world is full of instructive examples of how not to write, if we look carefully.

Other times, the key takeaways beat you over the head, like an editor who insists you recast every sentence you hand in that contains the passive voice, or the one who long ago decided the only good adverb is a deleted adverb.

Taking edits, particularly from brusque managers on deadline, can sting the ego in a way that makes helpful writerly pointers hard to internalize.

Developing the fortitude to respond to feedback with buoyancy—to keep asking questions and suggesting fixes rather than retreat inward like a wounded animal into a cave—is a life lesson unto itself. The ability to handle it will continue to serve you two jobs later, when another editor remarks “Sorry to make your life’s work out of these revisions,” and you can truthfully reply, “I’ve had worse.”

5Empathize with your audience—and everyone else

“Pity the poor reader,” a wise editor once said. As a writer, you’re constantly putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. That’s not just the case for fiction authors imagining gritty lives as pioneers and space pirates, either.

Good writers frequently ask themselves, “What’s my audience going to think as they read this? Is this part too long? Could this section be clearer?” Reapproaching one’s draft with fresh eyes means constantly considering a stranger’s perspective.

This is a worthy exercise not just for the sake of clear writing but also patience with the world around us. People who can seem strange and frustrating to deal with are more easily understood and forgiven when we’re practiced at considering their point of view.

6Take care of yourself as only a writer can

Because writing is an exhausting discipline, those who keep at it learn ways to look after themselves. For Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, a big factor is going to bed early. Murakami is also an advocate for running, as is Joyce Carol Oates. Heavy metal music is integral to the creative process, at least for King.

Plus, if you routinely write in a distracting environment like an office with an open floor plan, you’ve probably had to devise a few strategies for surmounting the ambient vexations and quieting the mind enough to, you know, get some work done.

The writerly muscle known as the brain is prone to spasms; any knowledge worker versed in basic care for such situations is bound to be happier for it.

7Know when you’re done

You start by pondering. Then, if things go well, you plan, write, edit, revise, and polish. Somewhere along the way, if you’re not mindful, you end up fiddling, reordering things in ways you’re not sure matter, tweaking tenses, debating the inclusion of a stray but endearing adjective, and generally failing the final, vital step of mashing Send.

At least, that’s how it goes until you’ve been through it a few times.

Getting writing done resembles packing for a camping trip. You want to be thoroughly prepared, but not overloaded—to trim unneeded bulk, but not at the expense of something you might need. (Wait, what am I forgetting?) At some point, you have to stop agonizing over your inventory and just go.

The result, once you get there, might even be worth writing about.

Defence vs. Defense—Which Should I Use?

Let’s dispel another spelling mystery. It’s defense against defence, and if you think it’s one of the British English vs. American English things—you might be onto something.

Defence and defense are both correct ways to spell the same word. The difference between them, the fact that one’s spelled with a “c” and the other with an “s”, comes down to the part of the world in which they are used. In the United States, people spell it with an “s”—defense. An American would write something like this:

Of course our team won; we had vastly superior defense.

In parts of the world where British English is used, they use the spelling with a “c”—defence. A Brit would write:

There’s no defence that could have stopped that attack.

This difference in spelling carries over to the inflected forms of the word only partially. In words like “defenceless,” “defencelessly,” or “defenceman,” the British spelling retains its “c,” instead of changing it for an American “s”—”defenseless,” “defenselessly,” or “defenseman.” But when the suffix added to the word begins with an “i,” in both American and in British English the resulting word is spelled with an “s”:

He was added to the team because of his strong defencive performance.

He was added to the team because of his strong defensive performance.

The platoon had to move to a more easily defencible position.

The platoon had to move to a more easily defensible position.

It should also be noted that you might come across the word defense being used as a verb. This is particularly common in the US when talking about sports, when the word is used instead “defend against”:

The team defenses the opponent’s advance.

The team defends against the opponent’s advance.

This usage is considered incorrect by some style guides, and it would be better if you didn’t use defense as a verb outside the context of sports.

Examples

Centre-back Joel Matip’s return is set to bring a calming influence to Liverpool’s defence but manager Jurgen Klopp has tried to deflect attention away from the 25-year-old.

The Daily Mail

For some like Veronica, a research scholar in chemistry, mastering a few self-defence techniques has provided an opportunity to get fitter.

The Hindu

The team needs to sustain its defense no matter who it is facing.

The Columbus Dispatch

Fowler, who struggled defensively early in his career, played spectacular defense with the Cubs, after he started playing deeper.

The Huffington Post

This Is How to Evaluate a Future Employer in a Job Interview

Do you have an interview coming up? You are probably preparing for it all wrong! Typical job candidates spend most of their time rehearsing answers. Instead, they should be looking for ways to evaluate their potential employer. Here’s how to use your job interview to find out if a job is right for you.

Why You Should Evaluate Potential Employers

Harvard Business Review reported that, on average, workers change jobs once every three or four years. Of course, an employee might change jobs for unavoidable or unforeseeable reasons. Others unknowingly set themselves up for failure on the job interview.

A recent study by Leadership IQ found that nearly half of newly-hired employees fail within the first 18 months. For some of these new workers, the problem is that they struggle to fit into the company’s culture. Within the first few weeks of working a new job, they might find out that they don’t work well with their supervisors, but it’s too late! Eventually, their discontent is too strong, and they quit the job they worked so hard to acquire. What a waste!

RELATED: 4 Must-see Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

Boris Groysberg, a Harvard Business School professor, says that the ability to evaluate a job offer is an essential skill for modern professionals. “Yet,” the Harvard Business article states, “most people do it poorly.” Thankfully, you can discover a significant amount of information about your employer during the interview. Equipped with the facts, you can decide whether the job will work for you.

Ask the Right Questions

According to Dr. Thomas J. Denham, founder of Careers in Transition LLC, your boss is one of the seven most important factors of job satisfaction. “Without a boss who is committed to helping you learn and succeed, other benefits aren’t worth as much.” In Denham’s article “Evaluating Job Offers and Negotiating Salary,” he suggests gauging your chemistry with your boss just like you would with a romantic prospect. Do you get along with him or her? Would you feel comfortable with your potential boss’s management style? Is he or she interested in your growth?

To discover these factors, ask if your interviewer minds a few get-to-know-you questions, such as “Why did you decide to enter this career? What do you like best about your job? What’s the hardest part about working here?”

What the Answers Reveal

How did the employer respond when you suggested asking questions of your own?

With Dismissiveness: A flippant or incomplete response is a red flag. The supervisor may be stingy with her time—a potential disaster if you need clarification of job tasks in the future.

With Outrage: Does he seem offended that you dare to question him? If he doesn’t realize that it’s important for you to evaluate the job, he might never have your interests at heart. You want to work for someone who considers your needs, not someone who gets huffy under the slightest provocation.

With Delight: If the interviewer is pleased that you’re so interested in getting to know her, it’s a good sign! Don’t you want an employer who is open and friendly?

With Criticism: Kay Bosworth, a former editor for a business education magazine, describes a good boss: “He is honest and straightforward, which means you should not have to worry about where you stand with him. He’s willing to share responsibility when things go wrong.” If the manager blames his team for problems during the interview, you might be next under fire if you work under his direction.

With Seriousness: A reasonable manager would realize that the more you know about your working conditions, the better you can evaluate if you will fit in with the company. Your questions deserve respect. Complete answers reveal that the boss takes your concerns seriously.

If the Interviewer Isn’t the Boss

What should you do if someone other than the boss conducts the interview? You can still learn much about management from the interview. You might ask what resources will be provided to do your job. If the resources are scarce, it could reveal that the managers are out of touch with the needs of the employees or that the company might be struggling to make ends meet.

Also, take a gander around the building before and after your interview. Do the employees seem happy? How is the workspace? Contented employees usually invest time in making their offices homey because they want to stay at their job long-term. Bare personal cubicles indicate that employees have a sense of detachment from their job.

Don’t lose the opportunity to get to know your future employer. If you ask the right questions, you’ll successfully evaluate whether the job is a good fit for you. What will your next interview reveal? Much will depend on how observant you are.

When to Use Of vs. Off?

• Of is a preposition that indicates relationships between other words, such as belonging, things made of other things, things that contain other things, or a point of reckoning.
• Off is usually used as an adverb or a preposition. In both cases, it indicates separation or disconnection.

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Mixing them up is always a mistake, but of and off are commonly confused nonetheless. Below, we’ve listed some common situations where you want to use of and some where off is the correct choice.

When to Use Of

We use of when we want to show that people or things relate to other things or people. For example, when we want to say that something or someone belongs to or is a part of something or someone else, we can do it like this:

Tiffany stared at the floor of her room.

He resigned his position as a member of the school board.

We can also use of to say that something consists of something else, or that it contains something else:

He picked up a piece of wood.

She likes to drink a glass of milk before going to bed.

When we want to give a position in space or time, we might use of to link the position with a reference we already know:

He didn’t feel at home north of the Wall.

At the time of the Viking raids, people spoke a very different kind of English.

Of could be used when we create a noun phrase from a verb phrase:

They had to clean up the house before their parents arrived.

They had to clean up the house before the arrival of their parents..

When to Use Off

Off is the opposite of on:

The radio was on, but she needed peace and quiet so she turned it off.

You should always make sure the stove is turned off before leaving the house.

Off can also be used when we want to say that something is away from a place:

He was walking his dog without a leash, and the dog ran off.

After walking Taylor home, Steve set off into the city.

We can use off when we want to say that something has been removed:

He cleaned the spilled soup off the kitchen floor.

They took the wheel off the car.

Examples

My favourite film of 2016 was the spine-tingling British production Under the Shadow from Iran-born, London-based writer/director Babak Anvari.

The Guardian

Can the Guardians battle the bad guys while still keeping their band of ne’er-do-wells together?

Wired

The Briton could only win the title if Rosberg finished off the podium.

Reuters

Sony and its partners showed off a bunch of games at yesterday’s PSX Keynote event.

Forbes

Who vs. Whom

Whom should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition. When in doubt, try this simple trick: If you can replace the word with “he”’ or “’she,” use who. If you can replace it with “him” or “her,” use whom.

• Who should be used to refer to the subject of a sentence.
• Whom should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition.

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Who or whom? If you’re like most English speakers, you know that there’s a difference between these pronouns, but you aren’t sure what that difference is. After reading this article, you might conclude that knowing when to use who or whom is not as difficult as you think.

When to Use Who

In a sentence, who is used as a subject. Let’s look at a couple of examples:

Who would like to go on vacation?

Who made these awesome quesadillas?

When to Use Whom

Whom is used as the object of a verb or preposition. Consider these examples:

To whom was the letter addressed?

Whom do you believe?

I do not know with whom I will go to the prom.

The Difference Between Who and Whom

How can you tell when your pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition? Try substituting “he” or “she” and “him” or “her.” If “he” or “she” fits, you should use who. If “him” or “her” fits, you should use whom. Keep in mind that you may have to temporarily rearrange the sentence a bit while you test it.

Who/whom ate my sandwich?

Try substituting “she” and “her”: She ate my sandwich. Her ate my sandwich. “She” works and “her” doesn’t. That means the word you want is who.

Whom ate my sandwich?

Who ate my sandwich?

Let’s look at another:

Who/whom should I talk to about labeling food in the refrigerator?

Try substituting “he” and “him”: I should talk to he. I should talk to him. “Him” works, so the word you need is whom.

Whom should I talk to about labeling food in the refrigerator?

You can also use questions to determine when to use who and when to use whom. Are you talking about someone who is doing something?

Gina drives her mother’s car to school.

Yes, you are talking about someone doing something, so use who in your question.

Who drives her mother’s car to school?

Now look at this sentence:

The car is driven to school by Gina.

No, the subject of the sentence (car) is not performing the action. Use whom in your question.

The car is driven to school by whom?

By whom is the car driven to school?

If you think the whom examples sound awkward or prissy, you are not alone. Many people don’t use whom in casual speech or writing. Others use it only in well-established phrases such as “to whom it may concern.” Some people never use it. It’s not unusual at all to hear sentences like these:

Who do you believe?

Who should I talk to about labeling food in the refrigerator?

Who vs. Whom Quiz