# Informed interpretation > We have come to value informed interpretation over plain reading. **TL;DR** - take responsibility for the act of interpretation. It's a pervasive myth that the best interpretation of the Bible is its "plain reading". Unfortunately, what is "plain" to one person is not "plain" to another. When we read, we do so with our experience, our imagination, and our reason. These can be incredibly varied from person to person. Our experiences are received through the varied circumstances of life. These are formed of our culture, social groups, health, genes, family, prosperity, work, education, hopes, fears, and more. All of these factors affect what we take from the text. Our imagination is informed by our experiences and is employed as we read. Even though modern media provides insights into foreign lands, Bible scenes pictured in our minds may be wildly different to the historic reality. Our reason is just as parochial. Personal intuition for "making sense" of Bible narratives is incredibly varied, and what is "plainly reasonable" to one might be far from that of another, or of the events themselves. Education is the antidote to these woes. Scholars spend their working lives trying to better understand the ancient world. Their endeavours encompass everything from culture and social order to literature and art. These are our best sources for informing our imagination, checking our assumptions, and validating our reasoning. By better understanding the ancient world we refine our ability to comprehend what the Bible text meant to the original audience. While it is tempting to privilege an apparently plain reading over the difficult work of learning about the world of the Bible, we value the insights, checks and balances, and challenges that we are offered when we seek to make an informed interpretation of scripture passages.