According to the results of an experiment by three neuroscientists, the region (called the IFO) of the brain active when actually experiencing disgust, delight, or pain is also stimulated when observing someone who is experiencing those feelings or when reading about such an experience:

The team found that the IFO was activated in all three tasks. They say that this similarity between first-hand experience and imagination helps to explain why fiction can be so compelling. “This is why books and movies work – they stimulate the area of the brain which is involved in what it really feels like to be disgusted,” says Christian Keysers, a member of Jabbi’s team. – from New Scientist magazine

It’s been a while since I’ve been here on the I Publish Press blog, but we’ve been very busy behind the scenes in the ‘production department’—editing, designing book covers, and planning the launch of our store.

However, that’s no reason to neglect all of you readers, so I’m back and planning to post regularly from now on.

But where do I start?

How about something that’s been on my mind lately? I’m a regular user of public transit and I never wait at a bus stop or sit on a train without having a book in my hand (unless I’m listening to an audiobook of course). Recently, I’ve been paying attention to what other people on the bus are doing. Some of them are chatting with friends, others are listening to music, and a select few are reading too. But most people are just doing nothing. They wait at the station doing nothing, they get on the bus & take their seats doing nothing. They just look straight ahead or down at the floor as if in some kind of trance.

Why? Why aren’t they reading? Are they too tired? Did they have a traumatic book experience as children? Even if you think books are torture, surely reading one would be better than utter boredom? There are so many books out there to choose from:

• this year’s Booker winner
• a classic brick of a book in a new translation (take your pick)
• one that has spawned a recent movie adaptation (good or terrible)
• nothing too taxing
• something serious and thought-provoking
• one by the favorite son of South Carolina

I just feel sorry for all those poor people who think there’s nothing better to do while you’re riding the bus, waiting in line, or during forced confinement in the doctor’s waiting room. Instead, they could be traveling to a distant land, learning something new, or laughing up a storm.