31–40 of 92 posts
Here's an approach that has worked better for me: pick a complex question and try to answer it. For example, "Why did the Great Depression happen?" It turns out there isn't actually a simple answer (that everyone can agree on).
May I ask how you get the time and how you are able to read a book under a day?
> It’s much better to read the best book on the topic 5 times, than to read 5 different books on the topic once. Rather than being an obvious truth, for me it is a grave mistake. I rarely read a book a few times (but also: I am very slow (careful!) reader), and go back if I want to quote something verbatim, or lookup a number/reference. In book reading I prefer quality than quantity. But what is crucial, rarely there…
For me, for a new field, I never know which is the "best" book. And whichever it is - it's not complete; there are additional nuggets to be found, maybe in the corner of a minor chapter, in many/most of them. I will read ~100 to just get a feel for the lay of the land. This is because I don't know what I don't know and certainly don't know enough to pick the best! And then go back and re-read (with more directedness)…
Solution for that is pretty simple for very many fields:
Google:
- best books on
- best books on reddit
Read a few lists from sites, especially those frequented by people in that field. See which books tend to appear often in those lists. There, you have quite probably just identified the very best books for the the human race has to offer.
I'd like to see some research on how much redundant and unnecessary information is in typical books. I have the feeling that the essence of most books can be simplified to the size of, say, an average blog post. Can't we make reading a lot more efficient than it is right now?
I agree that many non-fiction titles could be shorter (although probably not the length of a blog post). I confess I am an impatient reader, and many non-fiction titles I read feel padded out with unnecessary verbiage. I do wonder if the tools we use to write have some bearing on this. When using a computer to write, the ease of editing means it's much easier to just write and write and write. Imagine if you were for…
I'd like to see some research on how much redundant and unnecessary information is in typical books. I have the feeling that the essence of most books can be simplified to the size of, say, an average blog post. Can't we make reading a lot more efficient than it is right now?
I love your thought, and I tend to agree. There's way too much redundant and unnecessary information in typical books. That's why I think is better to read the best books on the topic more times, than few other average books repeating the same stuff in different words.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
For me, for a new field, I never know which is the "best" book. And whichever it is - it's not complete; there are additional nuggets to be found, maybe in the corner of a minor chapter, in many/most of them. I will read ~100 to just get a feel for the lay of the land. This is because I don't know what I don't know and certainly don't know enough to pick the best! And then go back and re-read (with more directedness)…
> For me, for a new field, I never know which is the "best" book. Solution for that is pretty simple for very many fields: Google: - best books on - best books on reddit Read a few lists from sites, especially those frequented by people in that field. See which books tend to appear often in those lists. There, you have quite probably just identified the very best books for the the human race has to offer.
I decided to read a book a day this year. So far I'm ahead at 336 and here are my counter opinions. "* It’s much better to read the best book on the topic 5 times, than to read 5 different books on the topic once." Flat out no. Unless you're a freaking machine. Reading different books covering the same topic keeps me interested more. I don't mind the repetition then because I get the warm "I know that" feeling. "* Ey…
a book a day Wow! What kind of books are these? How long do you spend everyday reading?
I don't know how much time I spend reading, it's almost never exclusive reading time - it's almost always multitasking with something else. I spent at least 4 hours today and it's only mid-afternoon here. Limiting my HN time seems to work and HN is the only social media I'm on. I always have at least two books on the go and one of them is an audiobook so I can keep reading when I'm cycling, doing laundry, etc.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I love your thought, and I tend to agree. There's way too much redundant and unnecessary information in typical books. That's why I think is better to read the best books on the topic more times, than few other average books repeating the same stuff in different words.
Fortunately - and this is something I see many smart people around me not realizing - we live in the day and age where it's trivial to identify and get the very best books humanity has produced about any given topic. That is, as long as you can read English.
The closest approximation might be Jorge Luis Borges with Tolkien with a dash of Neal Stephenson and Murakami.
At first I thought: I know what this is.
Then I thought. Wait... something's wrong here.
Then I thought. There is no way that is in the text. Can't be.
This was just the point where the rollercoaster is beginning the climb.
If you like complex and strange things, then this is for you.