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You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

blog.jim-nielsen.com

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Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#21

Post by nsagent »

kromem wrote: post #15

I actually realized recently that this is probably the underlying phenomenon behind "how is my phone listening to my conversations to show me ads/articles?" The other day I was thinking about LLM aggregation and in my internal dialogue used the example of "aliens built the pyramids" as a fringe theory that would be picked up on if tuning for other associated fringe positions by LLMs at places like Gab. Later in the d…

Responding to something in your visual field unconsciously is very reminiscent of split-brain studies.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#22

Post by Zambyte »

kromem wrote: post #15

I actually realized recently that this is probably the underlying phenomenon behind "how is my phone listening to my conversations to show me ads/articles?" The other day I was thinking about LLM aggregation and in my internal dialogue used the example of "aliens built the pyramids" as a fringe theory that would be picked up on if tuning for other associated fringe positions by LLMs at places like Gab. Later in the d…

This is why your attention is so insanely valuable. Everyone thinks they're immune to advertising, yet people keep paying billions and billions of dollars to show something on your screen for a few seconds... because like it or not, it works.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#24

Post by datameta »

bugbuddy wrote: post #9
sharadov wrote: post #5

I've always believed that two things will broaden your horizon - travel and reading. If you don't have the means or the time to travel then your next best option is reading.

We need to qualify what we mean by “travel.” Airline pilots, stewardesses, and other people that travel a lot for work or other purposes do not necessarily have the “broadest horizon.” I think we should use another term to mean “experience other cultures and ways of life.” The same can be said about reading. Reading the entire One Piece manga series is not necessarily gonna broaden your horizons.

I those those people you mention would see it more as "commuting" and not the colloquial definition of "travel".

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#25

Post by y04nn »

Don't forget that you are the result of all the past sensory interactions that you experienced in your whole life, people you interacted with, books you read, advertisements, songs, news headlines, etc. Even if you think you don't remember them, at one point in your life it was processed by your brain and may have changed some posterior decisions you made, thus making you what you are now.

Since I realized this, I am more meticulous when choosing what I do and don't do, there is no going back.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#26

Post by beebmam »

Zambyte wrote: post #20
al_borland wrote: post #12

>I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me. I heard those quote for the first time about 4 years ago. I had often been a bit disappointed with myself for not taking more notes while reading, or reviewing what I read in a way where I could be one of those people to bring up quotes and concepts, citing back to the original source, with freakish accuracy. This…

I still encourage you to write though. Writing has seriously transformed the way that I think. I refer to my notes very often too.

How do you know that writing has improved the way that you think? By what metrics did you come to that conclusion? If someone else showed you that by writing their transformed thinking reduced their quality of life, would you be less prescriptive to others?

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#27

Post by thorum »

One form this takes is that, even when you forget the details, you retain the general shape of the subject matter. You might not remember all the details about XYZ, but now at least you know XYZ exists: your internal map of the world is expanded and corrected, even if parts are a bit fuzzy.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#29

Post by rramadass »

lazydon wrote: post #17

This is relevant not only in the context of books and blogs, but also for the shorter forms of reading that we do more often like HN or Reddit comments, tweets etc. One way to think about it is that reading on the internet, no matter how casual, is like scattering seeds on the soil of your mind. Some of these seeds will grow into trees and influence your actions and decisions, whether you're aware of it or not.

Like all things, the effectiveness of the above depends on a good balance i.e. distraction by simply jumping amongst topics vs. concentrated thought on any one idea at a time. They are not the same.

In Hindu/Buddhist philosophy there is a concept of "Samyama"(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samyama) and "No-Mind" (one aspect - https://thetealetter.com/japanese-tea-ceremony/mushin-discov...). What this means is that when you are reading/working/etc. on something, your mind is completely occupied with it to the exclusion of everything else. Even if that activity is of only a very short duration your mind is completely possessed by it and when it ends, your mind drops everything to do with it and moves on to the next activity to occupy itself completely. This is the basic idea behind meditation/mindfulness/etc.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#30

Post by [deleted] »

beebmam wrote: post #26
Zambyte wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still encourage you to write though. Writing has seriously transformed the way that I think. I refer to my notes very often too.

How do you know that writing has improved the way that you think? By what metrics did you come to that conclusion? If someone else showed you that by writing their transformed thinking reduced their quality of life, would you be less prescriptive to others?

[deleted]
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