Properly executed, reading expands the mind, keeping cognition manipulated in a manner that leads to longevity. The act of holding a book removes the opportunity to do other activities requiring specific dexterity, such as mindlessly eating chips or cookies. The amount of time that could be spent reading compared to a normal evening’s session of television watching is unbelievable. Imagine if all the sit-down time spent watching tv after the hours of 7:00pm were spent reading or talking about what is being read. Knowledge, and I feel humanity as well, would increase immensely while the converse of bad health would decrease to a marvelous degree.