I hardly read fiction. I have always preferred to read non-fiction books. In fact, I was going through the list of 45+ books that I have read so far and only two of them were non-fiction.
I never really understood why people liked to read fiction so much. For me, reading a book meant it has to add some value to my knowledge or teach me something practical that I can apply in my life. Reading fiction offered nothing like that and so I felt it was a waste of my time. I know people read fiction to enjoy the good stories it offers but it never really appealed to me.
This is very much inline with my lack of interest in superhero / sci-fi / fantasy movies. I never liked them. If anything, I found them annoying. It was hard for me to wrap my head around all those sci-fi concepts, magical worlds, visual effects and unrealistic plots. All I could do while watching such movies was to point out how illogical, unrealistic and senseless the story was.
Suspension of disbelief
Last year I read a book about Sociology. In that book, I learnt about a concept called “suspension of disbelief” and it was like a lightbulb moment! This is how the book defined it:
Suspension of disbelief is the act of temporarily ignoring the unrealistic, illogical and impossible narrative of a fictional story with the intent of fully engaging and enjoying it.
That definition might sound wordy, but all it means is that we need to shutdown our logical thinking and accept the fictional story as-is to fully enjoy it!
We don’t have to constantly question the plausibility and possibility of the fictional world and point out logical loopholes in the story. Instead, we have to willingly immerse ourselves into the storyline to enjoy it. It doesn’t come naturally to us and especially so for people like me who are too realistic and skeptical.
Socio-economic background
That book also talked about how the ability to suspend our disbelief is a direct product of our socio-economic status and upbringing. Children who grow up in families with lower socio-economic background have a hard time with suspending their disbelief because they are too attuned to their real worlds and it’s difficulties. They don’t have the mental bandwidth to let their minds wander into fantasy worlds because they are constantly in a state of awareness about their real world problems.
In contrast, children growing up in well to do families have the privilege of not constantly worrying about their real world and so can immerse themselves into fantasies. From a very young age their brains have developed this ability to suspend disbelief and enjoy fiction.
I was nothing short of a revelation to me! I looked at my childhood and could relate to what the book explained. Now I find it surprising that I never knew the existence of such an important concept.
Practicing suspension of disbelief
Ever since I read about this concept, I am actively trying to practice it. It’s a novel and confusing experience for my brain when I am trying hard to force it to “enjoy” the very movies and books that it hated.
Nowadays, I force myself to read fictional books and watch sci-fi movies. I must admit that it is hard but I am definitely trying my best. So far, I have done the impossible and watched the full Harry Potter movie series. I never thought I could even sit through watching a single Harry Potter movie but I have seen all eight of them now! The storyline was engaging and I surely enjoyed some bits of it. Of course, my skeptical brain was constantly trying to point of logical loopholes in the plots but I was able to successfully “suspend my disbelief”.
What I have realized is, it is much easier to watch such movies with people who are fans of those movies. They help you understand the nitty-gritty of the story and you can always ask them about concepts you don’t understand. After the movie you can discuss with them and understand their point of views. All of this adds up to the experience and next time you’re better equipped to suspend your disbelief.
Murder on the Orient Express
This February, I decided to read fiction! After researching a bit, I decided I would love to start with a mystery novel. I went to the library and picked up Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. It’s classic novel written in the 1930s and almost everyone seemed to recommend it for starters.
The book was written almost 100 years ago and so the language felt different. It was a ~300 page book and it took me around 7 weeks to finish reading it. I did enjoy the story however I found it to be slow paced and the climax seemed a bit underwhelming. Throughout the reading, I was constantly battling my thoughts of logical questioning and suspending my belief but I am glad that I finished it.
Going ahead, I am planning to read more such books and explore other genres in the fictional category. I am also planning to watch more fantasy and sci-fi movies like the Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Interstellar, Inception.
