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The Dangerous Effects of Reading

blog.davidtate.org

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Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading

#11

Post by nlawalker »

I definitely agree about the "filtering crap from gold" bit. Once you reach a certain level of skill it can become a hindrance: you develop an extremely low tolerance for anything that doesn't catch you as interesting within a few seconds, and you start speed-reading absolutely everything. This is good in that you aren't wasting time consuming something that's not really useful, but it's bad in that you end up continuously subjecting yourself to input in this way. You can spend a whole day processing a million inputs, throwing them all away and learning nothing, when the alternatives are to spend your time doing something more fun or productive, or slowing down a bit and maybe actually getting a tidbit or two out of the first few hundred inputs and leaving the rest for another time.

A while ago, when I was reading for the purpose of focused learning (technical books, scouring blogs for information about some framework/API, etc.), I began the habit of taking copious notes. My notes are very wordy; it's almost like I'm having a conversation with myself and rephrasing ideas so I can understand them better. OneNote is my weapon of choice - for me it reduces the "barrier to entry" of starting notetaking because it's easy write now and organize later.

Over time, I realized that when I took notes this way, I had a much higher retention rate and a much greater understanding of what I was reading. So much so that when I find myself sitting at my desk or on the couch and "infosnacking," I try to stop and ask myself, "is what I am reading right now worth taking notes on?" If it is, then I start writing. If it's not, I make the effort to tear myself away and either do something that's more productive or something that I really enjoy.

Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading

#12

Post by rmgraham »

Splines wrote: post #8
ballstothewalls wrote: post #5

I really like this except: "I need to hear what others think before I form an opinion (If you have ever read a review of a new gadget before it launches: think about how ridiculous this activity is)" While I agree that I read too many product reviews, on larger issues, I need to read the opinions of people who actually know what they are talking about. I am so sick and tired of people offering up their opinion on com…

If you have ever read a review of a new gadget before it launches: think about how ridiculous this activity is Maybe I'm "too far in the rabbit hole", but exactly what's wrong with this? Is it a bad thing to be informed before spending my money? I have been burned by buying things that have reviewed well but I ultimately found not up to the task, but I'd rather find out something is a dud before rather than after (e.…

I think the emphasis was supposed to be on before it launches. As in before it has seen a useful spectrum of usage upon which to base a review.

Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading

#13

Post by balajiviswanath »

We are given 2 ears and 2 eyes to read and listen, but given only one mouth to express ourselves. So, nature herself optimized us for consumption ;-). Also, when we use the term reading it is usually meant for longer content. But, most of what people do with smartphones could at best be called juggling or glancing.

We don't stop creating because we are consuming more. It is other way round. We are consuming more because we are afraid of creating.

Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading

#14

Post by GlennS »

As a counterpoint, there is also a danger to writing without reading. Reading other people's work can stop you from needlessly reinventing what already exists. It informs your opinions and reminds you to consider things that you might have otherwise neglected to. It can also act as a reality check and prevent you from disappearing too far up your own bumhole (when you write about something, and then write about what you wrote, and iterate until your whole argument becomes a house of cards).

For balance, I recommend keeping a pen and a paper by you (or a text editor open) and occasionally pausing your reading to have a scribble whenever something strikes you as interesting.

Additionally, the thing that you absolutely must take the trouble to read are other people's comments on what you have written (exceptions allowed for people who get too many of these comments to make that practical).

Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading

#15

Post by funkah »

On the other hand: http://www.merlinmann.com/better/

This is my favorite thing Merlin has ever done, and I think about it all the time. I identify strongly with the following three points.

* identify and destroy small-return bullshit;

* shut off anything that’s noisier than it is useful;

* make brutally fast decisions about what I don’t need to be doing;

I completely disagree that honing your filter (um, to mix metaphors) is a bad thing. At a time when we have tons of ideas thrown at us constantly every single day, it is the essential thing. Otherwise you're looking at every stupid god damned cat video thrown your way.

Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading

#16

Post by flpmor »

shadowfiend wrote: post #9
richardburton wrote: post #7

You are right. Excessive consumption can get in the way of creation. However, I think consumption can also inform creation. I have recently made a conscious decision to comment more-often and submit more links to Hacker News. I want to create, engage, contribute and create more content. The transition from using HN as a tech RSS reader to actually engaging more with the community has been a really refreshing one. I d…

Yeah, honestly, there's a weird dichotomy here. The post mentions things like reading in the bathroom, or reading on the way to work, or whatever. But there's nothing inherent in those that doesn't mean you can't also be creating when you get home. I suppose there is a mention of getting home and just reading/watching TV/playing games on electronics, but other than that every other “excessive consumption” example isn…

I agree, is not consuming prevents creating, it's consuming too much takes time from creating. In that sense, developing a good filter for crap would allow you to consume faster leaving more time for creating.

A second issue is that it's assuming that if you develop an efficient filter for incoming crap, that filter will be applied to what you generate. And that if that filter threshold goes beyond the level of your own ability to create, all you do is crap and you stop creating. The input filter does not have to be the same as the output filter.

Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading

#18

Post by adriano_f »

We are of one mind, davidtate!

I posted this today, too: http://adrianoferrari.com/essays/silence-compelling-creativi...

For those who say that reading can inform creation, I think neither David nor I would disagree.

It's just that the balance is so weighted on the consumption side that we need go to the other extreme once in a while to redress the balance.

Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading

#19

Post by richardburton »

flpmor wrote: post #16
shadowfiend wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, honestly, there's a weird dichotomy here. The post mentions things like reading in the bathroom, or reading on the way to work, or whatever. But there's nothing inherent in those that doesn't mean you can't also be creating when you get home. I suppose there is a mention of getting home and just reading/watching TV/playing games on electronics, but other than that every other “excessive consumption” example isn…

I agree, is not consuming prevents creating, it's consuming too much takes time from creating. In that sense, developing a good filter for crap would allow you to consume faster leaving more time for creating. A second issue is that it's assuming that if you develop an efficient filter for incoming crap, that filter will be applied to what you generate. And that if that filter threshold goes beyond the level of your…

You express exactly what I was trying to. If you read HN all day and write no code that is a bad day for creation. If you code as much as you can and broaden your mind by reading HN in your downtime that is probably a good balance.

I find HN is a pretty good filter for incoming crap.

Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading

#20

Post by theon144 »

adriano_f wrote: post #18

We are of one mind, davidtate! I posted this today, too: http://adrianoferrari.com/essays/silence-compelling-creativi... For those who say that reading can inform creation, I think neither David nor I would disagree. It's just that the balance is so weighted on the consumption side that we need go to the other extreme once in a while to redress the balance.

>If you are a programmer, you could write code, but you shouldn’t execute it

I'm not sure I understand - why shouldn't I execute what I wrote? Isn't it like a musician not listening to what is he playing?

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