Acharya Prashant questions the importance of reading, stating that it is very easy to write like Rumi. He believes that even today, thousands of people can write better than Rumi. Therefore, it is very difficult to judge a person's inner state just by their words. A completely fake person could write exactly like, or even better than, Rumi. The real game is about something else, not words, as the value of words is quite low. The speaker elaborates that in a long essay or talk, there is a higher chance of one's pretense being exposed. When you write a lot, you are bound to make a mistake somewhere, revealing your true self. However, in a short four-line or fourteen-line poem, it is easy to craft the right kind of spiritual-sounding words. One could essentially start a factory producing 40 Sufi-like poems a day. He calls it a horrible thing that someone can produce Rumi-like poetry without any internal change, meaning a person's highest expression can be internalized by another without any real transformation. You remain as you are, but you have co-opted Rumi's poetry and started writing like him. Reading is an indicator of a healthy mind, but it is not the cause of benefit. If someone's mind is engaged in reading, it is a sign that the mind is on the right path. Reading is an indicator, not a cause. He contrasts this with observation, which he considers more valuable. Reading keeps you in your place, while observation gives you intelligence. Reading is related to faith, and observation is related to intelligence. Both are necessary, but if one had to choose, he would choose observation. If you only observe, you risk becoming cunning by manipulating the ways of the world. If you only read, you might become something else entirely. The speaker notes that even the Upanishads can be copied, as there is a pattern to them. Similarly, he mentions that 80% of the couplets attributed to Kabir Saheb are not his, but it's hard to tell which are fake because his style can be imitated so well. He concludes that original work is never perfect; it is spontaneous and has imperfections. Someone who copies it can actually do better because they can remove the flaws.