Kind of ironic how he mentions productivity posts 3-8 times, all the while giving advise to create more(aka productivity improvement)
The Dangerous Effects of Reading
51–60 of 71 posts
Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading
#52I 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 contin…
Hmm... interesting idea.. i haven't taken notes in a loooong time but will start now and see how it works out...
Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading
#53Often reading is just distraction. There's often very little actionable information there. It's just taking your mind off your real problems. It's basically all entertainment. I go home and I watch Khan Academy videos now. I read Wikipedia. I read some Hacker News mainly to distract myself from work. I pretend that it's useful, and it sometimes is, but sometimes I wonder if I'm engaging in repetitive naval gazing and…
///Hacker News to distract myself from work...
Can identify with that... try to use a time based site-blocker for the same, but of course have learnt to disable it..:-)
Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading
#54We 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 beca…
And—as Kenneth the Page put it—ten fingers, "which must mean that God really wants us to poke things!" [1]
I'd argue that creating something is significantly harder than simply consuming (YouTube comments and the like notwithstanding). Fear may enter into it at times, but more likely just simple complacency and inertia.
Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading
#55this is wonderfully ironic.
Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading
#56I 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 contin…
A tried notes in HS and college but it they never seemed useful -- after all the content is in the book, and most books have a great index/table of content so I can find whatever piece of info I want.
My notes, on the other hand don't. And I may have gotten the details wrong or omitted that piece of info.
Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading
#57I don't know if it's that dangerous. One of my biggest fears is to be stranded somewhere and not having anything to read, and I had this fear way before smart-phones were invented. I can still remember how at 14 I was reading "Ender's Game" in the middle of nowhere where my grand-mother had sent me to graze the cows. From time to time I would just take my eyes out of the book to make sure that the cows hadn't trespas…
It is a scary prospect to be left with nothing but your own mind. If you have to read on the toilet instead of just focusing on getting things done it is definitely time to realise something is wrong. Are we happier because we can be entertained constantly? I am pretty sure the answer is no, and that actually it tends to contribute to stress. I say this as someone over-stressed and always concerned about being productive.
Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading
#58On 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 metap…
Also on early episodes of Back to Work he talked a lot about oscillating between time and attention. That is if you stay in your bubble all the time you won't create very interesting things, but that's not a common problem these days because distribution and consumption is so easy that the vast majority of people can go through life without creating anything (which was not the case when 90% of people were subsistence farmers). Instead you need to find the balance where you are actually receiving the right amount of input to do your best work.
I love hearing Merlin talk about this stuff because he is intellectually honest and communicates in an almost koan-like style. That said, the hard part is closing the gap between thought and practice. I struggle with it every day.
Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading
#59I think the author is expressing that if you (only) let external sources be the inpiration of who you are, you will lose yourself. That's why it is important to create (also).
Re: The Dangerous Effects of Reading
#60Often reading is just distraction. There's often very little actionable information there. It's just taking your mind off your real problems. It's basically all entertainment. I go home and I watch Khan Academy videos now. I read Wikipedia. I read some Hacker News mainly to distract myself from work. I pretend that it's useful, and it sometimes is, but sometimes I wonder if I'm engaging in repetitive naval gazing and…
I'll just set up every straw man and let you tear 'em down, I guess.
Reading isn't always just distraction, in the same way that the internet isn't and, as you've said, you use the internet for Wikipedia, Khan Academy videos, etc.
I just bought Ron Paul's "End the Fed" book (it's on sale in hardcover at Amazon), which I feel will give me a more informed position in politics. You'll have to pardon my belief that politics matter, and aren't a waste of time.
The book I'm currently reading is Higbee's "Your Memory : How It Works and How to Improve It", which I believe will help me extend my mnemonic memory, which will allow me to remember the things that never stuck with rote memory (capitals of all the states, periodic table, presidential terms, etc.)
These aren't fiction (well, depends on how you interpret "End the Fed" I guess), and aren't just a 'distraction', at least in my opinion.
Even if these things ultimately get categorized as 'Entertainment', I don't know that to be a problem either. The mind needs entertainment, and if trying to enrich your experiences and imagination is a 'waste of time', then I don't know what isn't.
What's the end game for watching Khan Academy videos? To know more? To be more successful? To make more money?
I don't know that any of those motivations (other than the first) is philosophically any better than reading for entertainment.