Some Philosophy of Reading
Each post I write starts somewhere. Usually, I start with reading. Let's talk about reading today.
Stories, fiction or non-fiction, are part of our natural makeup. We are attracted to listening and reading stories to learn about the world around us. Via reading stories, we are exposed to the thoughts of others. Our minds mingle with another mind's perspective, which, if we find meaningful, our ideas change.
The game-changer for me was when I started reading to create notes from my reading. I found myself reading closer, thinking more about what the author is saying, and trying to fit it into my life. There are a variety of strategies for making notes. Some of which I may go into in the future.
Here are a few reading tips.
- Read only books that are interesting to you.
- Read only the exciting parts of those books.
- Reflect on what you read. This is the grunt work of reading and thinking. It's how wisdom is acquired.
- If the book is not good, just stop reading. Nobody is watching. Nobody is keeping score.
- There are compounding returns to being obsessed with reading, so start young and never stop. It is never too late to start being obsessed.
- Read in a cluster. Read books on the same topic by the same author or biographies of the same person by different authors.
- Keep your eye out for key terms that represent meaningful ideas.
- When we read, we are reading the author's mental processes.
- Close reading can help you see where ideas are similar and if the ideas are more or less extensively developed.
- Buying a book doesn't buy the time to read it. Don't confuse the purchasing of books with the acquisition of their content. This phenomenon is called The Collector's Fallacy.
Prior Writing on ‘Reading’
3 reading quotes — kestrelcreek.com
Hupomnemata/Zettelkasten — kestrelcreek.com
(306 words)
Please, continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com .