Why Do I Read? A Reflection on Books, Manhwa, and a Critical Tweet - Blog - Naufaldi Rafif Satriya

I suddenly felt the urge to write again. It was triggered by a tweet I saw about books, which said:

"Gw gak yakin semua orang yang hobi membaca are that smart.

Most of them cannot utilize what they read in real lyfe.

Mostly ended up being a snowflake

Real case: ada orang yg menurut standar netyjen sangat positive, hobi membaca, gak tahan kerja di harsh environment gasampe 3 bln"

This tweet made me reflect. Do I genuinely like reading books? Is it really my hobby? Is my goal to "become smart" just by having this hobby?

It made me think, despite wanting to read books and write more, why should I? What is the purpose? What do I truly gain from reading?

I've bought a lot of books lately, hoping to bring back my old reading habit. Despite this, I'm still not reading much. Finishing even one book in a month doesn't feel like an achievement. This makes me think again, do I _actually_ want to read books? Is my purpose for reading that urgent? Or is there no real need for me to read books right now?

Maybe I'm not reading books because it's not my priority, even though I say I want to and I have plenty of time.

For example, before I sleep, I read manhwa. I read _a lot_ of manhwa. If you asked me about a specific title, I'veprobably read it and can tell you the synopsis. Sometimes I read for 30 minutes to an hour. This new habit has replaced my old one of "doom-scrolling" on my phone.

But why do I read manhwa before sleep? Because I want imagination. I want escapism. I want a place where I can see action, follow a story, and maybe learn something new. I read all that manhwa—stories about how a hero survives or how someone fights for something.

And I don't think "entertainment" is the only reason. These stories about heroes and their struggles are _teaching_ me something. It's complex visual storytelling. Reading about someone fighting for what's right, even in a fantasy world, is a powerful reminder about resilience and empathy. It's not "less" valuable than a book, it's just a different way to explore the same big ideas.

The key is entertainment, but it's not _just_ entertainment.

On top of that, it's just _easier_ to read manhwa on my phone, which is small and fast. This is different from books. Whether it's a physical book, my Kindle, or my iPad, the device is bigger and feels like more of a commitment than my smartphone. The friction is higher.

So, instead of reading books, I now choose to read manhwa as my main hobby. But I still feel guilty for not reading books.

I think this guilt comes from knowing what books offer. When you read a book, you _only_ have the text. You have to build the world yourself—imagine what the characters, plot, and places look like. You can imagine how grand it is. Or, if you read non-fiction, you gain deep knowledge and get answers to your curiosity.

But right now, I still just read manhwa. And honestly, there has been barely any negative impact on my life from _not_ reading books. Perhaps that's the problem. I'm missing a trigger, an "aha" moment, that forces me to see the need.

This brings me back to the original tweet. Do reading books as a hobby make you smart?

I don't know. I don't have the answer. In fact, I have a question in return, "What is 'smart'?" We're adults now. We don't judge someone's intelligence purely by a score, like in high school or university. Even in a meritocracy, everyone has a different role. How can we possibly judge someone as "smart" or "not smart" as if it's a binary 1 or 0?

I'verealized I am not reading (or _wanting_ to read) books to be "smart." I want to read books simply because I _want_ to. I want to imagine, to escape reality for a bit. I want the entertainment that I get from fiction, and I want to get answers to my curiosity from non-fiction. I just want to _know_ things.

At the end of the day, whether it's a manhwa or a book, what matters is _your_ purpose.

For me, even though I'm "not yet" reading books consistently, I still have a clear purpose for reading manhwa, a purpose I'm not ashamed of anymore. It's to see how people can be resilient, to understand empathy, and to follow stories about people trying to be good.

And I know I still want to read books. I want to continue reading _Babel, or The Necessity of Violence_, which is sitting right next to me, offering both entertainment and a new perspective. This article itself is the "aha" moment I was looking for.

So, if you like reading, whether it's books, manhwa, or articles, just continue. Find _your_ purpose and stick with it. Don't let yourself be dictated by other people's standards.

Let's be honest, you can still live a perfectly good life if you don't read. But if you _do_ choose to read, whatever it is, just remember _why_ you're doing it. That "why" is the only thing that matters.