Why is forensics so unscientific

last updated on May 18, 2020 by the editorial team

Fortunately, you obviously don't belong to the human species who believe reading is a wasted lifetime.

But even if it were, you would at least be in good company. Nobody less than Mr. America First, Donald Trump himself is of this opinion.

And whoever has made it to the most powerful person on this planet can't be entirely wrong, can he?

Is reading a thing of the past?

As a reader, avowed bookworm, or even “bookworm”, I don't share his opinion!

I think much more of Walt Disney, who once said:

There is more treasure in books than pirate booty on Treasure Island ... and best of all, you can enjoy this wealth every day of your life.

If you look at the development of the reading population in Germany, you can really only get scared and anxious. While around 58% of 16-29 year olds say they read daily when asked about their daily reading consumption, when asked, 91% of them mainly mean emails or WhatsApp messages.

Less than one in three looks at a book. According to estimates by the Ministry of Education, up to 7.5 million people can no longer read or write properly at all.

I know quite a few contemporaries who have not read a book for years. The plan to take a book with you on your next vacation is to be regarded as honorable.

Even if my average reading workload of 1 book per week should be a little above the statistical mean, for me reading is nevertheless only the second most beautiful thing in the world.

Now if you're wondering if I have nothing else to do in my life. Yes, I have. Incidentally, I also find the time to share my views and insights with you on this platform. I do this in the hope that you might be one of the visitors who doesn't see these as just a clown's views.

But even at the risk: I like clowns and laughter is known to be the best medicine.

Current book recommendations

We live in the digital age

While reading used to be a matter of course, today it is becoming more and more an exception. Even the ordinary people who read their newspapers at least every day are becoming fewer and fewer.

Which parents still read from books to their children today? Unfortunately there are fewer and fewer. Today, reading is increasingly taking place online, if at all.

For many children and young people, reading messenger messages is their only point of contact with reading material. But communication via whats app and Co improves neither communicative nor intellectual skills.

Grammar and spelling don't matter. Upper and lower case, punctuation no longer exists. Have a look in a dictionary? For what?

Google knows everything. In the digital age it is almost no longer necessary to speak a world language such as English. Translations are also done by digital assistants.

At best, word believers make the effort to use synonyms for frequently used verbs when choosing words. But what for, if you don't want to or can't understand it.

Many are not aware that wrong words can act like arrows that can no longer be retrieved. Trying to understand the real meaning of words and phrases is something for the academic elite.

But is that really the case? What are operating instructions enclosed with technical devices for today? Who still reads them? If I want a decent manual for software today, I may pay more for it than for the program itself. Crazy world.

What reading can do

So, now a few impulses that might make you stick your head in a book again. If it is definitely not your thing, there is also a wonderful opportunity to have audible read to you. Incidentally, this also works in the car, bus and train, and even on a plane.

Give yourself a gift

Your new leisure activity is relaxation and at the same time pure mind training. There is no other activity that can offer you this combination. Reading is one of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself, along with writing a diary.

When you read, you dive into another world. Your thoughts are stimulated, your creativity promoted, your consciousness expanded, your knowledge increased.

You will learn, be entertained or manage to escape your everyday life in a positive way for magical moments.

A book is much more than just printed paper. It can touch and seduce you. It can cheer and comfort you. Reading can be liberating.

It can be fun and change your life. It can open your eyes and make you happy. It can inspire you and of course broaden your horizons and help you to gain new perspectives.

Do something for your brain

Reading is good for your brain. With the help of magnetic resonance imaging, researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig have shown that the brain not only changes neuroplastically in children who are learning to read, but also in you as an adult.

In your case, unlike in children, not only your cerebral cortex changes. The connection between the visual cortex and the thalamus, which acts as a filter between important and unimportant information, is also strengthened.

The charm of reading often lies in the previously unknown and new that you will discover. It inspires your imagination and creativity and lets you perceive the world with completely different eyes.

You can develop your personality, enrich your family life and your partnership. You can become an expert in your preferred area. You can acquire profound knowledge, the application of which can give your life a whole new direction.

Many people simply browse through books because they are entertaining and entertaining. The argument that reading is a very expensive hobby no longer counts today.

You can get books almost free of charge in the library. You can get used books very cheaply at flea markets, Ebay or booklooker.de.

If you use an e-book reader or tablet to read, thousands of books are available to you for free on the Internet.

Reading doesn't have to be an expensive hobby

By the way, I use the Skoobe app myself, with which you can borrow hundreds of thousands of books at a low monthly fixed price.

So if you're one of those people who rarely reads books, you might be convinced by these advantages of picking up a book every now and then and immersing yourself in new worlds.

You just don't have time to read? Sorry, if heads of state (with the exception of Donald Trump), entrepreneurs, actors, singers and athletes manage to take the time to read, there is probably another reason behind it. You just lack your why, because the real value of reading has not yet been revealed to you.

Open up new worlds for you

I even think there is a little bookworm in many people who just haven't been brought to life. For me, too, it took until I was 30 years old to finally get gripped by the reading bug. Since then, more than 20 years have passed in which there has really not been a week in which I haven't read.

Find your personal why for reading

Once you are one of the people who like to read, you will very quickly find your personal why:

• You can read to relax
• You can read to learn something new
• You can read for inspiring tips and suggestions
• You can read to get new views and insights
• You can read to relieve stress
• You can read to broaden your horizons
• You can read to increase your vocabulary
• You can read to stimulate your creativity
• You can read to develop heroism
• You can read to improve yourself
• You can read to increase your creativity
• You can read to understand things better
• You can read to understand complicated things in a simple way
• You can read to forget your worries
• You can read to gain new perspectives
• You can read to increase your awareness
• You can read for fun
• You can read to go from talking to action
• You can read to improve your vocabulary
• You can read to improve your communication skills
• You can read to train your emotional intelligence
• You can read to develop your people skills
• You can read to save yourself from Alzheimer's and dementia

Perhaps you will discover the pleasure of writing by taking the detour of reading. You can train this sensibly with the help of a bucket list or by keeping a diary.

"It starts with reading"

That is the motto of the Reading Foundation. She has made it her business to make reading something completely normal again in Germany.

Aware of what elementary importance it is for education, professional success, integration and our entire social development, the foundation carries out national initiatives and programs as well as model and research projects.

The programs for families and day-care centers start with early childhood support, since this is where the foundation for later reading skills is laid.

Older children and young people are reached through school and extracurricular programs for schools as well as youth and leisure time, which further cover the biographical development of children, young people and adults.

In addition to the children as direct beneficiaries, the target groups also include their parents and other important multipliers such as educators, teachers as well as book trade and library employees.

Many prominent reading ambassadors support the project.

You can find out more about it here

I want to end my contribution with a few book recommendations and the wise words of Augustine Aurelius, who once said:

The World is a Book. Those who never travel only see one side of it.

Current book recommendations