A Hansonian Debate

Loyal T.L.G. readers, I ask your wise counsel. Yours Truly, The Lyrical Gangster, is currently engaged in a debate with this man, The Founder of the Hansonian Institute.

The Founder was taken aback recently when it was suggested to him that reading non-fiction works was superior to reading fiction. The reasons are simple, really. While everyone enjoys a good story (and there are many great works of fiction to be read, clearly) there are many works of non-fiction that likewise are equally good tales. But in addition to being a good read, a non-fiction book is normally educational. A person can become much smarter simply by reading history, science, law, politics, biography, etc.

While reading works of fiction clearly can benefit a person, they rarely offer the same bang for the time-investment buck when it comes to making a person smarter or more well rounded. This is simply a hypothesis; a personal preference really. But The Founder is not impressed.

In voicing his disagreement with "A gentleman, whom we once had the pleasure of hosting for a night or two" he writes:

"How can you not like an entire category of anything? It's like people who claim they don't like seafood. I don't get it. Where are the people who don't like mammals? Where are the people who don't like colors? Where are the people who don't like liquids?"

Such a disappointing response from such a well-educated man. First, it is disheartening to hear that while I have always considered The Founder a personal friend, The Lyrical Gangster is summarily dismissed as some guy who slept on the floor. Second, obviously there are entire categories of lots of things that are bad: criminals, diseases, Bay Area communities. But the real question is whether or not it is acceptable to "dismiss" the category of fiction and categorically prefer works of non-fiction for the reasons suggested above. Readers: What say you?