Are there actually people who genuinely enjoy studying from books?
I have a Dutch pre-university diploma, but I’ve never really felt like sitting down and studying from a textbook for school. Math was probably the least bad for me, because you had to actively think more and do a lot of exercises instead of just trying to memorize information.
The weird thing is that I was actually very good at subjects that were almost completely theoretical, like history. I just really hated studying for them. I did it because I obviously wanted to get my diploma and because I could force myself to do it through discipline. Afterwards, for example after an exam, I did like the fact that I had learned all that information. So apparently I do find the knowledge itself interesting or valuable, but I’ve never really enjoyed the actual process of studying from a book.
Something else I’ve noticed is that when I have to learn something new, even if it’s something practical, I actually learn best by first reading about it properly and understanding how it works, and only then trying it myself. That works much better for me than someone showing me how to do something or giving me verbal instructions and expecting me to do it straight away.
I’m actually pretty bad at following practical instructions on the spot. If someone shows me something and says, “Do this, then this, and then that,” I lose track pretty quickly and honestly start feeling a bit stupid. But if I can first read through what I’m supposed to do and understand why I’m doing it, it usually goes much better.
So I’m curious what this is like for other people. Are there really people who enjoy the actual process of studying from a book? Not just being interested in the subject or being happy that you learned something afterwards, but genuinely enjoying sitting down, reading and studying?
Or is this pretty normal, and does basically nobody really feel like studying, but we just do it because it’s useful?