World Book Day

World Book Day

“A room without books is like a body without a soul”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero

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Here we are in 2020. On April 23, is widely known as the World Book Day. This was the date when legends like Cervantes and Shakespeare died. But it is also the date where several authors like Maurice Druon and Joseph Pla were born.

Present day, in the world where everything is automated, millions of alternatives are being released, everything feels crowded. The noise, the voices, whether they’re there or somebody else made it, we’re surrounded with something. Everything is connected. We almost got no time to disconnect. Everything is made easy. You wanna know something? Just Google it. We almost have no border with anything.

They say, “A book is a window into the world”. But some of us might say that Google is far more than just a window into the world. Now hold up, we’re not going to say that it is a bad thing. But think about it, the more we rely on the fastest way to find something, the more we become dependent with things. And yes, humans are naturally curious about stuff that they don’t know. But without the sense of looking cautiously for the answer, millions of hoaxes will spread like a disease. Now imagine yourself living without the touch of the internet. Just books. With no alarms, no surprises, silence.

Stressful, isn’t it? In the world where everything never sleeps, you’re left alone and empty.

But do you know that Bill Gates himself has this kind of routine where he would let himself be alone in a solitary cabin with books and problems that he wanted to focus on specifically without being intercepted with anything especially the internet for a whole week? It is believed that this routine will help him to solve problems better. This routine is famously known as the Think Week.

It is true with what they said. A book is literally a window into the world. Why? Think about it. When you read books, whether it is an academic book, fiction, literature, or anything, the feeling you get is different. Your mind automatically pictures the words far more better. Concepts, stories, images, they’re so vivid. This leads you to a whole new world. And this will also shape your mind to be more unique and let you give birth to new ideas that probably will change the way this world works. Who knows your ideas will be implemented years from now as a breakthrough. Who knows your ideas will give greater impact for the rest of the world. And who knows your ideas will shape the way people perceive things and behave. Who knows.

And in this world full of artificial, stay true.

Happy World Book Day!

Writers: Refrira Nabaan Marsha Nurprasetyo, Aisyah Putri Ramadhania

REFERENCES

Clifford, C. (2019, July 28).  Bill Gates Took Solo ‘Think Weeks’ in a Cabin in the Woods—Why It’s a Great Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/26/bill-gates-took-solo-think-weeks-in-a-cabin-in-the-woods.html

United Nations. (2020, April 23). World Book and Copyright Day.
Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/observances/book-and-copyright-day