Reading Gödel, Escher, Bach? Intellectually positive. Reading a Harlequin novel? Intellectually neutral or negative (opportunity costs). The point is, as for intellectual advancement, choice of content is actually what matters, not the medium.
Regarding books vs video : If a book mentions a Wankel engine, I have to look up that definition or gloss over it, hoping it's concept is revealed later.
If I watch a video and it mentions a "Wankel engine" and I see an engine rotating around and immediately get the gist of how it works. E.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=josJhz8VS8A
In general, a work in a visual medium - a painting, a comic book or a film - supplies ALL or most of the inputs. A book supplies only some of the inputs and we, the readers, supply the rest.
Here's the thing: a good reader supplies good inputs and an average reader supplies average inputs. This is why children are described as "imaginative readers". They "live" in the story-world whereas we adults skim through it.
So even if it's a Harlequin novel, you can make it as vivid as you'd like. But that effort will be substantially more than watching even a good film adaptation of a Harlequin novel.
> Reading Gödel, Escher, Bach? Intellectually positive. Reading a Harlequin novel? Intellectually neutral or negative (opportunity costs).
Not according to the brain scans. The content doesn't matter. It's the act of reading that strengthens the brain. If you manage to get more out of it than that, well that's gravy.
> Regarding books vs video
Maybe this was intended for another comment? I haven't said anything about video. TV is not youtube. The consumption patterns are different.
Which brain scans? Isn't it common knowledge now that most of those stories of "we put someone in fMRI and had them do X" are nonsense? Also, fMRI is hard and until recently, 25-40% of studies got it wrong. See [0].
> It's the act of reading that strengthens the brain.
Good to know I'm strengthening my brain every day, spending 10 hours reading code and/or HN comments. :).
Regarding books vs video : If a book mentions a Wankel engine, I have to look up that definition or gloss over it, hoping it's concept is revealed later.
If I watch a video and it mentions a "Wankel engine" and I see an engine rotating around and immediately get the gist of how it works. E.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=josJhz8VS8A