Is it true if you read a lot you become smarter?

You could spend 50 years reading the labels on condiment bottles or the tags on mattresses and it won't do a goddamn thing for you. But whether you read fiction or non-fiction, if you're ingesting information and analysing information, you'll be capable of organising it, recognising it in context, and reproducing it. And that process definitely leads to greater intelligence. So reading isn't enough - one needs to be an active reader.

You won't get better IQ, but more knowledge.

You'll learn to widen your horizons, and see that people have lived very different lives in different cultures and at different times in history, yet we're all basically human. You'll learn tolerance and understanding.

Your IQ might not improve, but you'll become a whole lot 'smarter' in every other important way.

define smart.

I loved going into the library and getting a book from each section--one at a time--on a subject I would never normally look at. That's how I learned about ants and octopuses--the space elevator--and so many fascinating things I would have never thought to read about. And if I hit a boring part I would jump ahead. I learned so much and enjoyed it. For example, not all ants in a colony are the same. Some are lazy and will go out with the others to find food but will sneak off and hide and sleep all day then go back in line to go home. Others steal food. I read about robots--example--the scientists created little robots to work together as a group. They gave them a test. They told the robots to go find a box of batteries that will keep them alive. The robots fanned out and searched. One robot found the batteries and hid them from the others so he could live forever. Try all different types of books. You'll be surprised what will fascinate you that you would never have thought of.

Reading is still the best way to learn and one of the best ways to improve mental acuity. The internet has enormous information but most people waste it. Nothing is better than sitting down with a good book.

I read two newspapers daily and a book or two a week.

I'm not smart. But I'm smarter than I was yesterday.

I think so as long as you remember what you read.

I think the worst books to read are the classics because they’re just not relevant unless you’re on jeopardy or answering trivia. For general knowledge, a newspaper or any news is good for information.

Nope. If you read articles on Yahoo all day you'll actually become dumber.

It can help with your vocabulary.