---
title: Reading Fiction Increases Empathy By 40%
date: 2025-08-20T04:00:00.609381
author: Charlie M.
category: SIGNAL
---
I was sitting on the couch yesterday, you know, that time when the afternoon light just kind of spills across the room in this way that makes everything feel more alive. Anyway, I was scrolling through Instagram, trying to ignore the mess on the coffee table. It's kind of ironic how distracted I get by a screen when all that golden light is right there... but whatever. I was flipping through memes and random posts when I stumbled on this article—something about reading fiction boosting empathy by... like, 40% or something. I can't remember exactly. I think it was a study somewhere with a smart-sounding name, and it got me thinking about all the books I keep starting and never finish.
I don't know—maybe there's something to it. Like, when I was a kid, I used to get lost in novels all the time, you know? Just sucked right into those worlds with dragons or detective mysteries. Those stories felt more real than real life sometimes. I guess, maybe, that's the whole "Theory of Mind" thing they talk about? Where you learn to see the world through someone else's eyes? Like, somehow I was picking up empathy without even knowing it.
But then adulthood happened. Now it's mostly non-fiction or news articles I can barely pay attention to. And I'm not sure if that makes any difference. I read somewhere—don't ask me where; it's all a blur—that fiction specifically helps with, um, I think they called it perspective-taking? You get to live in someone else's brain for a while. But does it actually boost your empathy by that much, that 40% number? And how do they even measure empathy? Is there like, an empathy thermometer or something? Sounds weird.
I tried getting back into novels recently. Started a few bestsellers everyone's talking about. Didn't get very far. Too many distractions, too many unfinished New Year's resolutions. Plus, I keep trying to reduce my screen time, because, you know, balance or something. But then I just end up replacing one distraction with another. Delete an app, start a book, repeat.
Some studies—vague recollection here—mention that non-fiction doesn't have the same effect on your brain, or heart, or wherever empathy lives. Is it the storytelling, the characters, the rich, imaginative landscapes? Makes me wonder if it's about the difference in what's happening inside us when we read fiction versus non-fiction. Fiction pulls you in, asks you to feel things. Non-fiction feels more like information transfer.
I try to remind myself that it’s okay not to have definitive answers. Maybe there's magic in storytelling or maybe it's all just... coincidence. Books piled up, half-read, like whispers of well-intentioned resolutions. Sitting back while the sunlight fades, maybe fiction can wait for another day.
There’s no clear roadmap here. Just as I’m not really sure what today’s to-do list should be about, maybe empathy, like everything else, isn't something you force. Or even measure. So, I'll sit here, soaking in the fading warmth, and just maybe pretend I'm in another world. Until it gets dark.