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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

#311

Post by skeeter2020 »

daniel_reetz wrote: post #33
y04nn wrote: post #25

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…

Hmm. The experiences that changed and benefited me most were least predictable. As a result, I try to manage experiences less, and choose the unknown more. But in the spirit of what you've said, I try to avoid doing dumb, damaging, or boring things twice.

>> I try to avoid doing dumb, damaging, or boring things twice.

As a parent I tell my kids: "Make lots of mistakes. Learn from them and don't repeat them; avoid the fatal ones". Then I try to remember my own words before I chastize them for their multitude of dumb decisions (teenage boys)...

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

#312

Post by gladuz »

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…

Cal Newport talked about this in his podcast. Just taking a book and going in is really important to reduce the friction.

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

#313

Post by bloomingeek »

gizmo wrote: post #262
keiferski wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty trite if you stop to think about it. “Everything in your life that you experience has an effect on your experience of life.” We all exist in the world, not apart from it, and no amount of exclusion or creation of “sterile spaces” will change that.

Expressions like "eat your vegetables" and "life is short" are also trite. But the purpose of folk wisdom isn't to shock and awe with fresh insights. The purpose is to remind people of what they already know to be true. That way we steer our behavior more towards the kind of life we want to live.

Your reply is simple, yet profound. Answers to the question of "why" must be understood.

Before retiring, I trained new hires, the age gaps were sometimes very interesting. The younger they were, the more they wanted to know. (obviously their experience level was pretty low.) I used adages to bring a point home when explaining a difficult concept. It worked every time.

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

#314

Post by freilanzer »

al_borland wrote: post #297
freilanzer wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use a blank paper sheet as bookmark and carry a pen, so that I write down important notes from the book content on the bookmark. Afterwards the book is - ideally and dependent on the content - condensed to one sheet, that I can refer to later. It also helps with retaining the content.

I’ve tried this with an index card once and quickly filled it up. As I ran out of space I found myself question if someone was card worthy, which was a distraction. I also tried writing in the margins on a book. I don’t like writing in the book due to it losing a lot of ability to shared after the fact, or if the book isn’t mine it’s a non-starter. That said, it was a very different experience, it was more like havin…

> I found myself question if someone was card worthy, which was a distraction.

I think having a whole sheet might help. It's not enough to copy everything, but enough not to get sidetracked. Also, you might write down a reference to a page and 1-2 keywords only, or a couple of keywords describing one's own thought regarding a piece of content + a page reference.

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

#315

Post by notnaut »

nuclearnice1 wrote: post #282
7thaccount wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But can you paint with all the colors of the wind? In all seriousness, I liked that line you quoted in the song. I wonder if there is a literary term for that repetition. It's not alliteration I don't think as the words themselves repeat.

polyptoton?

Epanalepsis?

Chiasmus?

Why are all rhetorical devices given such arcane names?

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

#316

Post by gumboshoes »

I like to point out our first language is usually the best example. We remember where or when we learned very few of the thousands of first-language words we know. Yet, there they are, waiting to be recalled. Sometimes this is called "white knowledge," after white noise, meaning it's there, hidden, indiscernible, until you strain your senses to retrieve it.

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

#317

Post by ceravis »

nuclearnice1 wrote: post #282
7thaccount wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But can you paint with all the colors of the wind? In all seriousness, I liked that line you quoted in the song. I wonder if there is a literary term for that repetition. It's not alliteration I don't think as the words themselves repeat.

polyptoton?

Or possibly antanaclasis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antanaclasis

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

#318

Post by ab8 »

beltsazar wrote: post #266
y04nn wrote: post #25

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…

> you are the result of all the past sensory interactions that you experienced in your whole life That's only the mental aspect. Physically, you are also what you eat and how often you exercise.

Right! You are your body. Not just your mind.

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

#320

Post by lukan »

pixl97 wrote: post #291
madaxe_again wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just got into the habit of saying “yes” to pretty much anything. It has taken me on some wild rides indeed, and I am richer in spirit for it. It forged the bond between my wife and me - “shall we do a road trip across Eurasia?”, she idly asked, expecting at the very most a “maybe” - instead I grasped that nettle and applied for visas that day. Six weeks of utterly madcap adventure ensued. Since, I’ve found myself i…

Isn't this also just a form of survivorship bias? You wouldn't be posting this from prison for example. Maybe at the end of the day simple platitudes only work for the lucky.

Well, by definition, if you have bad luck, you are unlucky.

But sometimes you can move out of a chain of bad luck events by doing something else and not repeating the same stuff while hoping for change.

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