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The Case Against Reading Everything

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Re: The Case Against Reading Everything

#51

Post by folksinger »

ellius wrote: post #45
folksinger wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither of us want me to write an essay about Wittgenstein's notion of "meaning through social interactions" and how this applies to artistic value, but I'll summarize it thus: art needs an audience. Now, given the vast population of the world, I'm sure there are a few people out there who are into bluegrass-rap fusion, but your friends, family and neighbors are probably not going to get much out of it. So who do you…

I think ultimately we’re going to go back and forth about an unanswerable question: what fulfills people? You can’t answer it for anyone else. One artist will need the audience as a foil; another will be perfectly happy to toil away in obscurity. To my mind the best advice is “try a lot of things and see what feels right to you; don’t be dogmatic about your approach until you have a very high level of confidence base…

This is the solipsistic perspective of someone floating in the ocean, looking in only one direction and sure they are alone, sure they are surrounded by nothing but an endless expanse, completely unaware that they are just a few hundred feet from the shoreline that lies behind them.

The answer is not different, it is the same for EVERYONE! Turn around and swim back to land!

Re: The Case Against Reading Everything

#52

Post by redshirt »

todd8 wrote: post #21

I've read a great deal for the last 50 years, but I feel that this gives me little time for fiction. Every time I pick up a fictional work, I know that I'm going to be forgoing hours of reading or thinking about other things. I feel that I have limited time for fiction. Sadly, this causes me to miss out on the joy of reading good fiction. It's easy to speed read technical material, especially with the benefit of 50 y…

Yes. I recently mentioned to my partner how many days I have left in the form of sunsets. Not that many when we think about it. You know what, I approach everything with that attitude and make the most of what little time we have. That includes re-reading number theory books in my spare time :).

Re: The Case Against Reading Everything

#54

Post by hateduser2 »

uoaei wrote: post #48
hateduser2 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably there is not a way to accept death. Humans forever fight against death. Probably death truly should be scary and offputting, and it’s inevitability drives us to do crazy things like believe it’s ok. We probably should fight death with all the strength we have. It’s one of our evolutionary imperatives!

Of all the reasons to delay death, an argument on grounds of an "evolutionary imperative" has got to be the weakest. The value of life is not in its quantity alone, but in $\int_{birth}^{death} quality \: dt$. If life is extended without due diligence to improving quality of life for humans and indeed all sentient beings, we are ultimately doing a disservice to our fellow humans.

Why is that a weak argument? And don't you think its rude and unnecessary (trolly?) not only to say its weak but its literally the weakest possible? What other purposes do we have in life besides those given to us by evolution? All other purposes surely are rooted in something ephemeral or fantastical. Dreams not truths.

Re: The Case Against Reading Everything

#55

Post by ThomPete »

todd8 wrote: post #21

I've read a great deal for the last 50 years, but I feel that this gives me little time for fiction. Every time I pick up a fictional work, I know that I'm going to be forgoing hours of reading or thinking about other things. I feel that I have limited time for fiction. Sadly, this causes me to miss out on the joy of reading good fiction. It's easy to speed read technical material, especially with the benefit of 50 y…

Sometimes the fastest way is slow.

You don't need to "read fiction fast" you need to slow down and enjoy it, internalize the universes that are created by it.

Reading fiction allows you to think about non-fiction differently, i.e. you gain new perspectives by also reading non-ficion.

That's at least my experience.

Re: The Case Against Reading Everything

#56

Post by ellius »

folksinger wrote: post #51
ellius wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think ultimately we’re going to go back and forth about an unanswerable question: what fulfills people? You can’t answer it for anyone else. One artist will need the audience as a foil; another will be perfectly happy to toil away in obscurity. To my mind the best advice is “try a lot of things and see what feels right to you; don’t be dogmatic about your approach until you have a very high level of confidence base…

This is the solipsistic perspective of someone floating in the ocean, looking in only one direction and sure they are alone, sure they are surrounded by nothing but an endless expanse, completely unaware that they are just a few hundred feet from the shoreline that lies behind them. The answer is not different, it is the same for EVERYONE! Turn around and swim back to land!

Recognizing that people are unique does not immediately equate to solipsism. That would be like me saying that recognizing any kind of commonality immediately implies collectivism.

Re: The Case Against Reading Everything

#57

Post by 0xJRS »

todd8 wrote: post #21

I've read a great deal for the last 50 years, but I feel that this gives me little time for fiction. Every time I pick up a fictional work, I know that I'm going to be forgoing hours of reading or thinking about other things. I feel that I have limited time for fiction. Sadly, this causes me to miss out on the joy of reading good fiction. It's easy to speed read technical material, especially with the benefit of 50 y…

As `naiyt` said, try audio books. I used to feel the same way as you and then bought a bluetooth receiver that fit into the back of my car stereo and now listen to audiobooks during my morning/afternoon commute. In 2 years I've probably listened to 40/50 books.

Re: The Case Against Reading Everything

#58

Post by cafard »

I belong to a neighborhood book club, which means that I read roughly five books a year that somebody else picked. I don't think that this is a bad thing, though often enough my reaction to the book is indifference or even loathing.
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