[Gary Wassner]

In many respects they are similar. Man is a victim of his needs, and self-actualization is the end product. For Nietzsche, man as we know him, was a sick, herd animal, dominated by need as well, but the ultimate goal was not quite to actualize man as he is today, but to overcome him, to become something other than the herd animal. Practical, no. Exciting, absolutely. But most of all, dangerous.

[Rob B]

I really think good writers/authors allow us to participate in their imagination. The offer us an interpretation of imaginary events for us to process and live through in our own way.

Reading is not a passive experience, at least when reading good writers like Scott, Matt, Wolfe, Hobb, Keyes.....put words to paper. It is an expereince, and in many ways, the earliest "virtual reality" experience. Writers connect with their readers through the words, through their imaginations and to an extent, the collective unconciousness.

This is part of the reason reading, outside of these forums and in the real world, is not overly popular. People in today's society want passive experiences, they want to be entertained, sure, but they want to sit back and not have to put much effort into it. Don't get me wrong, I love watching movies and playing video games and more passive forms of entertainment as well. I'm not trying to belittle those forms of entertainment.

[Gary Wassner]

I think it's also a function of leisure time. A movie is a defined block of time, as is TV. Books require longer periods of down time in order to read and gain the best experience. Leisure time, real leisure time, is shrinking dramatically as our lives become more complicated. And the longer we work, the more we want to sit back and be entertained. For some, reading is work, even though it is enjoyable work. It takes concentration and thought. Video games and movies are pure leisure.