[reading about it or actually doing it]

I just came across this quote from Bill Gates which seems to resonate more with me now that I have had the pleasure of hearing Margaret Atwood tell us that reading is the most mentally stimulating thing "we" can do:

Well, the most virtual thing that people do is reading. You know, you read about mountain climbing. More people have read about climbing Mount Everest than have climbed Mount Everest. Now, is that a bad thing? You know, it's not actually going and doing it. I think giving the people a choice of what real things do they want to do, what things would they prefer just to learn through reading, it gives them flexibility. It's a form of freedom.

[Bill Gates talking with David Frost, 1995, p. 11]