Is there a way around the paywall? I clicked "web" and then entered through google, but it's still paywalled.
The AMP result worked for me.
The Need to Read
11–20 of 108 posts
Re: The Need to Read
#12I agree with the gist of this article, but it feels like the details are trying too hard. Books are great, and do add value to your life and help you educate yourself. But the improvements they make in your life are not automatic - you need to actively engage with the content. Neither are they unique - if you engage with meaningful content, of any kind, you can learn and improve yourself. Books are wonderful. But the…
> Neither are they unique - if you engage with meaningful content, of any kind, you can learn and improve yourself. Youtube has been godsend for me last couple of years. It exposed my own ignorance about how little I knew about the world. Now I usually type in 'BBC documentary' into youtube every night and watch it in bed. Also helps me get rid of some of the self-centered pre-bed anxiety.
I hope you use f.lux or something similar if you're in front of a screen before going to bed. Otherwise the blue light from the monitor is likely doing your sleep more harm than watching the documentary.
Re: The Need to Read
#13The part about self help books is absolutely true-- I find much more useful "advice" and guidance from narrative nonfiction (e.g. memoirs, biographies, etc.) and great fiction than I ever did with conventional "motivation" books.
Self-help books is philosophy for the feeble minded.
Re: The Need to Read
#14Is there a way around the paywall? I clicked "web" and then entered through google, but it's still paywalled.
For what it's worth, that trick works for me with Firefox, but not Chrom{e,ium}.
Re: The Need to Read
#15paywall!
Re: The Need to Read
#16The part about self help books is absolutely true-- I find much more useful "advice" and guidance from narrative nonfiction (e.g. memoirs, biographies, etc.) and great fiction than I ever did with conventional "motivation" books.
Self-help books is philosophy for the feeble minded.
There is a quote from one of Roger Ebert's movie reviews:
"No one with a feeling for literature and poetry can read the typical best-selling business or self-help book with a straight face, because their six rules or nine plans or 12 formulas are so manifestly idiotic, and couched in prose of such insulting simplicity."
Re: The Need to Read
#17The part about self help books is absolutely true-- I find much more useful "advice" and guidance from narrative nonfiction (e.g. memoirs, biographies, etc.) and great fiction than I ever did with conventional "motivation" books.
Can you please provide some examples?
Re: The Need to Read
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Self-help books is philosophy for the feeble minded.
There is a quote from one of Roger Ebert's movie reviews: "No one with a feeling for literature and poetry can read the typical best-selling business or self-help book with a straight face, because their six rules or nine plans or 12 formulas are so manifestly idiotic, and couched in prose of such insulting simplicity."
I always try to find good business books, but can rarely stomach them. I'm planning "The Snowball"[0] as my next try, but any recommendations for business books that are not "manifestly idiotic" would be welcome!
Re: The Need to Read
#19I am usually reading 3-5 books at a time but I only read computer/math books now a days. I wonder if the benefits that the author and other people mention apply to technical books. Maybe I should pick up a fiction book or finally start reading "Gödel, Escher, Bach" again (which has been sitting on my shelf for too long).
I find that reading fiction improves my overall desire and ability to read in general - thus improving my ability to take in technical content as well.
Re: The Need to Read
#20I don't read entire non-fiction books anymore but just search for it's summaries or notes.
Most non-fiction books revolve around a few central ideas. Once you internalize this you realize it isn't necessary to read the entire book. You just need to read the summary and notes that someone else has written.
For eg : I'm currently going through the book notes that Derek Sivers has written and just posted this last night : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13042438
Another source of (business book) summaries is Actionable Books Weekly : http://www.actionablebooks.com/en-ca/
Sometimes a good review on Amazon sufficiently maps the ideas in the book and is all that is required.
Further, you don't always have to buy the books. Your free local public libraries carry a lot of these books and even have the digital version that you can borrow.