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I Went from Reading 40 Books a Year to Reading 0

durmonski.com

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Re: I Went from Reading 40 Books a Year to Reading 0

#11

Post by Aditya_Garg »

churchill wrote: post #7

I needed to hear this: I have an ever-growing list of books I want to read, with topics ranging from the Mossad, to drug trafficking in Southeast Asia, to how to build better habits, to political theory, and some history. A few days ago, I tried but failed to remember the name of a (main) character from Narcotopia. When I'm reading, I'm so immersed in the story that I feel I'm living it. It brings me immense pleasure…

Not everything in life needs to be squeezed for maximum gain. Remembering the names of characters is a lot less important than remembering the lessons learned from the story.

Re: I Went from Reading 40 Books a Year to Reading 0

#12

Post by VoodooJuJu »

>As we know only too well, reading books is considered the fundamental ingredient for moving from mental inferiority to inspiring intelligence.

Lost me right at the first sentence. It's inferior to believe that books are a fundamental ingredient in allaying mental inferiority. Most knowledge is tacit and comes from doing, not reading. The hero who confronts the lion gains wisdom along the way. The nerd in his library merely thinks he's gaining wisdom.

Re: I Went from Reading 40 Books a Year to Reading 0

#13

Post by vundercind »

sharpshadow wrote: post #2

It sounds to me like you are reading books which more or less belong all to the same niche. The gradient going from a lot to a few seems natural.

It reads like it was mostly airport-nonfic hustle trash, to be blunt. Blog-post-expanded-to-a-book stuff. I’ve read a dozen or so of these over the years and they’ve consistently been a waste of time. Easily condensed to five or ten pages, probably mostly lists or bullet points rather than denser prose, without losing any substance whatsoever.

The improving value of reading 40 of those per year versus 0 is approximately identical, so unless you’re finding them entertaining, there’s not much reason to do it.

Re: I Went from Reading 40 Books a Year to Reading 0

#14

Post by AlchemistCamp »

pierot wrote: post #10

Please read more fiction. Why should everything be about becoming a 'better' person? Why not enjoy a good story? Unconsciously you will learn something, even from fiction.

Yes! Fiction tends to be much better written and in many cases is an excellent window into understanding people whose lives have been very different from your own. If you want to improve your social awareness and better understand the human condition, fiction is a must.

Re: I Went from Reading 40 Books a Year to Reading 0

#15

Post by giraffe_lady »

pierot wrote: post #10

Please read more fiction. Why should everything be about becoming a 'better' person? Why not enjoy a good story? Unconsciously you will learn something, even from fiction.

Yeah exactly. I guessed pretty early that the books he was reading were productivity-branded self help and pop science. These can be fun but 2-3 per decade is probably plenty.

Re: I Went from Reading 40 Books a Year to Reading 0

#16

Post by pessimizer »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #9

I had a very ambivalent reaction to this blog post. Most importantly, I find the author's relationship to reading quite odd. Basically, all he talks about is reading self-help books. Not really any reading for pleasure, nor does he discuss reading to learn about other non-self-help related topics that might interest him, just for learning's sake. So he seems to approach reading primarily from a "how is this going to…

Some people only read self-help books and popular biographies that they have been told will inspire them. It's how the modern version of a religious education is delivered. Through sheer volume of inspiration, they will be delivered into success.

Re: I Went from Reading 40 Books a Year to Reading 0

#17

Post by vundercind »

churchill wrote: post #7

I needed to hear this: I have an ever-growing list of books I want to read, with topics ranging from the Mossad, to drug trafficking in Southeast Asia, to how to build better habits, to political theory, and some history. A few days ago, I tried but failed to remember the name of a (main) character from Narcotopia. When I'm reading, I'm so immersed in the story that I feel I'm living it. It brings me immense pleasure…

We forget everything, eventually. A whole lot of it over time, and whatever’s left, all at once.

It’s all partial and temporary. A long-lived cathedral made of one’s knowledge is unachievable. It’s a scrap-book with pieces and pages always falling out and you can never collect them all because you’re late for the train and have to hurry on.

Re: I Went from Reading 40 Books a Year to Reading 0

#19

Post by t-3 »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #9

I had a very ambivalent reaction to this blog post. Most importantly, I find the author's relationship to reading quite odd. Basically, all he talks about is reading self-help books. Not really any reading for pleasure, nor does he discuss reading to learn about other non-self-help related topics that might interest him, just for learning's sake. So he seems to approach reading primarily from a "how is this going to…

Reading too much fiction also leads to diminishing returns. The number of works that can be considered of high quality is not infinite, and it diminishes exponentially in relation to the number of books read. After a few hundred or thousand, fiction will be like cigarettes - forestalling a craving but providing little to no pleasure.

Re: I Went from Reading 40 Books a Year to Reading 0

#20

Post by kayo_20211030 »

Xiol32 wrote: post #5

I am begging you to pick up some fiction instead.

100%. Imaginary persons' imaginary lives are instructive too. And if they're not instructive, they can at least be entertaining, or interesting, or lyrical. The treadmill of turgid self-improvement is dull. A lot of non-fiction books were once bulleted lists, used as publisher's proposals, and then expanded to books. The fact they can be reduced to a bulleted list in summary is hardly surprising; and, in my view, of little value. They can't all be right. Do "X" for success. Don't do "X" for success.

Non-fiction is, like most things, best done in moderation. Fiction works differently on the mind. To me, it's more fun. The plot can be summarized of course, but the diction, structure and unfolding cannot be summarized without losing a great deal of the experience of reading.

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