Actually you missed a fact about reading. The fact I write about is a medical fact. One that behooves all to heed. That is the fact that reading works the physical brain. stressing the neural pathways and producing a stronger ability to produce new pathways.

You literally get more hardware and as a result smarter. Writing does the same although with less measurable affect on the brain, but more in the muscle memory and motor reflexes. You literally are what you choose and you can choose to be more or less. It has always been up to each and everyone of us.

Just like liberty, freedom requires the consequence of responsibility. So to do our choice of action or inaction create its own consequences. We are not required to act, but we are subject to the consequences of our choices.