Here it is, the nine reasons giving you great excuses to never read again. There are so many reasons why we should read, yet so many reasons we really shouldn’t. We’ve heard them all: “Reading is fun”, “Reading is relaxing”, “Reading makes you smarter “, and the famous “Reading is important”. However, after finishing a book, have you ever considered what the downsides of reading really are? Once you see them, reading is far less beneficial than what everybody is trying to sell you.

Here are 9 reasons why reading books are NOT good for you:

 1. You will gain knowledge  

As much as knowledge is an empowering thing, having too much awareness of the world around you will make you unhappy. When has the pursuit of knowledge proved much good? Victor Frankenstein created the monster out of curiosity and the desire for glory, and what happened to him? He died in regret and hatred for human’s inhumanity. Another example is Adam and Eve, who bit the forbidden fruit of knowledge or Pandora opening the box. If they didn’t want to know, they would have forever lived in paradise. To sum this up is while you learn a lot from reading, you can’t choose what to learn.  Ignorance is bliss.

2.  You will lose your identity 

A Japanese writer once said, “If you only read the books that everybody else is reading, you can only think what everybody else is thinking.” When you read, the book becomes your life. The author’s beliefs and emotions will become your beliefs and emotions. You will lose your own voice in the world.

3.  You will develop too high of expectations in the real world

Self-explanatory. If you keep on reading fantasy, how could you separate your expectations from reality?

 4.  You will be more unconventional with your money

Once you become obsessed with reading, how can you look at the price of clothes without thinking about how many books you can buy instead. Hopefully it doesn’t come to living on books rather than living on food.

5. You will lose sleep… a lot of it

We all know that that “one more chapter” is a lie. Because once you are all caught up, there is no stopping you to finding out what happens next. Nobody likes a cliffhanger, it is the worst feeling ever. And even if it means sacrificing your sleep to do it, you are going to cram the whole book if you can’t help yourself. It’s unhealthy really, and especially in one whole sitting.

6.You will become socially awkward  

You don’t want anyone to interrupt you while you’re reading. Period. Without talking to any real people for so long, it’s gonna be tough.

 7. You will be stressed

Overall, reading makes you think too much. You can worry endlessly about if your favorite character will be able to overcome his/her ordeal. You could start to worry so much about useless things that don’t even apply to your own life.

8. You will be so emotional

Whether it’s the death of a beloved character or the ending was terrible, you could just not put up with it. Every time when an author plays with your emotions, you know you will be forever traumatized. It’s just more drama and pain in life that you don’t need, but you keep coming for it again. It’s an never-ending cycle. Why do you want to do this to yourself?

9.  It’s a waste of time

Finally, it’s a waste of time. The infamous “excuse”. Why read fictional stories when you can go and make the experiences yourself?

These are reason why you should think twice before picking up that book. Reading is not always as good a thing as you think. And before someone asks why don’t you read more, you can cite these 9 reasons.

*This article is satirical and the author truly encourages people to read.