The conclusion was great it really brought the point home.
I do agree there’s a few books I’ll talk about and discuss with friends that I’ve never physically read, but sometimes that technical term “read” is hard to get past. I do think some people who answer “no” to this question have a superiority problem.
Excellent post Robbie, very well written… I definitely see where you’re coming from! I think the issue at hand here isn’t whether you’re a liar or not, but whether you are telling the truth. I think if someone asks you if you have read a book, and you say yes while only having listened to the audio book, it is an unintentional mistruth. You didn’t mean to lie, and I wouldn’t even consider you a liar, but you did not tell the truth. Lastly, I don’t believe your example of flying makes sense. The reason is that one of the definitions of “fly” is “transport in an aircraft” so you did fly, technically. However, if you look at the definition of read, there is nothing that encompasses audio books. I look forward to hearing your response!
Thanks Sammy! Great points—see my responses below.
Regarding "lying" vs. "telling the truth," I think you make a good distinction, since lying is usually implicitly correlated with some sort of malice. I can assure that was not the way in which I intended to use the word, as I agree, there's usually no ill intent when people say they've read an audiobook. Rather, I was just using the word "lying" as a stand-in for "not telling the truth." So we have no disagreement there.
Regarding the flying example, I have to disagree with you, and here's why. At one point in time (for example, when air travel was first implemented into the mainstream), presumably that definition of "fly" was not in the dictionary, and was only later added. I assume there must have been some window of time in which people used the term "flew," to describe airplane travel, without that specific definition being in the dictionary yet. And I'd still hold (as I imagine would you) that even during this window, the person who says they flew from one city to another was not telling an untruth.
To this latter point, I raise a question to you: Could there be any scenario in which you accept the use of a word to mean a certain thing, without that meaning being explicitly laid out in a dictionary? Or will you continue considering that to be an untruth, until the very day it's added to a dictionary?
I think we’ve had some discuss on this topic through a notes comment but I’m glad you wrote an article about it! I guess to be technical I’ll say, “oooh yes I listened to that book” but do I count audiobooks towards my reading goal? 100%. I consumed the book in some form and it counts. I hate when people discount audiobooks! Audiobooks are an incredible way to open up “reading” to different types of learners. I don’t think physically reading works for everyone and that’s ok! I would love to know more on the science behind it but I’m sure, like physically reading, there’s benefits to our brain by engaging and listening to an audiobook.
This actually reminds me of Exodus 24:7: “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people…” What’s interesting there is that “read” clearly doesn’t mean silently reading to himself. Moses spoke the words out loud so everyone could hear them. The point wasn’t the method—it was that the people received and understood what was said.
That’s kind of how I think about the audiobook question. When someone asks, “Have you read it?” they’re not quizzing you on whether your eyes moved across the page. They’re asking whether you know the story, the ideas, the moments that matter. In the Bible itself, reading often was listening. So if you’ve taken in the full book, understood it, and can talk about it, saying “yes, I’ve read it” doesn’t feel dishonest at all—it feels completely in line with how the word has always been used.
The conclusion was great it really brought the point home.
I do agree there’s a few books I’ll talk about and discuss with friends that I’ve never physically read, but sometimes that technical term “read” is hard to get past. I do think some people who answer “no” to this question have a superiority problem.
Hahaha, lots of well thought-out reasoning in the conclusion.
YES, I totally agree about the superiority problem. Some serious arrogance going on there.
Excellent post Robbie, very well written… I definitely see where you’re coming from! I think the issue at hand here isn’t whether you’re a liar or not, but whether you are telling the truth. I think if someone asks you if you have read a book, and you say yes while only having listened to the audio book, it is an unintentional mistruth. You didn’t mean to lie, and I wouldn’t even consider you a liar, but you did not tell the truth. Lastly, I don’t believe your example of flying makes sense. The reason is that one of the definitions of “fly” is “transport in an aircraft” so you did fly, technically. However, if you look at the definition of read, there is nothing that encompasses audio books. I look forward to hearing your response!
Thanks Sammy! Great points—see my responses below.
Regarding "lying" vs. "telling the truth," I think you make a good distinction, since lying is usually implicitly correlated with some sort of malice. I can assure that was not the way in which I intended to use the word, as I agree, there's usually no ill intent when people say they've read an audiobook. Rather, I was just using the word "lying" as a stand-in for "not telling the truth." So we have no disagreement there.
Regarding the flying example, I have to disagree with you, and here's why. At one point in time (for example, when air travel was first implemented into the mainstream), presumably that definition of "fly" was not in the dictionary, and was only later added. I assume there must have been some window of time in which people used the term "flew," to describe airplane travel, without that specific definition being in the dictionary yet. And I'd still hold (as I imagine would you) that even during this window, the person who says they flew from one city to another was not telling an untruth.
To this latter point, I raise a question to you: Could there be any scenario in which you accept the use of a word to mean a certain thing, without that meaning being explicitly laid out in a dictionary? Or will you continue considering that to be an untruth, until the very day it's added to a dictionary?
I think we’ve had some discuss on this topic through a notes comment but I’m glad you wrote an article about it! I guess to be technical I’ll say, “oooh yes I listened to that book” but do I count audiobooks towards my reading goal? 100%. I consumed the book in some form and it counts. I hate when people discount audiobooks! Audiobooks are an incredible way to open up “reading” to different types of learners. I don’t think physically reading works for everyone and that’s ok! I would love to know more on the science behind it but I’m sure, like physically reading, there’s benefits to our brain by engaging and listening to an audiobook.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Sorry for this late response! Yes, the post was partly inspired by our conversation, haha. Thank you for reading it!
I’m glad it was a good conversation and sparked a longer article!
This actually reminds me of Exodus 24:7: “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people…” What’s interesting there is that “read” clearly doesn’t mean silently reading to himself. Moses spoke the words out loud so everyone could hear them. The point wasn’t the method—it was that the people received and understood what was said.
That’s kind of how I think about the audiobook question. When someone asks, “Have you read it?” they’re not quizzing you on whether your eyes moved across the page. They’re asking whether you know the story, the ideas, the moments that matter. In the Bible itself, reading often was listening. So if you’ve taken in the full book, understood it, and can talk about it, saying “yes, I’ve read it” doesn’t feel dishonest at all—it feels completely in line with how the word has always been used.
I absolutely love this perspective! No matter the method or context, “reading” always involves the transmission of meaning.