21–30 of 97 posts
> Consuming information is not the same as acquiring knowledge Yes but this: > Getting the rough gist and absorbing the lessons are two different things. I only partially agree with. I organize my knowledge using zk, and go through a) writing notes as I read then b) digesting them into ideas. Most books I read cover to cover prior to doing that, I remember only the gist of ; while books I occasionally speed read doin…
what is zk
The best way to remember what you read is to apply it. If you read a book about programming in python and you want to retain that knowledge, write a program in python. Unfortunately writer's writing advice for other writers but pretending like it's for everyone is too common. >> 1. Quality matters more than quantity. If you read one book a month but fully appreciate and absorb it, you’ll be better off than someone wh…
Also, taking notes, marking up a text etc are in my opinion a waste of time. If the author did his job right you should be marking up 100% of the words, and when taking notes you should be copying the book almost verbatim.
If you absolutely need to have a high recall, I recommend to start with a recital based approach. Read a section, then try to recite the topic freely. This works well for complicated or information-dense stuff. Less well for fluffy prose. If you want to go a step further, use loci-method with the latter approach.
Also, being interested in more effective learning techniques is highly correlated with diagnosed/undiagnosed ADHD. Just sayin'
> Consuming information is not the same as acquiring knowledge Yes but this: > Getting the rough gist and absorbing the lessons are two different things. I only partially agree with. I organize my knowledge using zk, and go through a) writing notes as I read then b) digesting them into ideas. Most books I read cover to cover prior to doing that, I remember only the gist of ; while books I occasionally speed read doin…
And there is very little we can do to improve or degrade the retention of anything we actually "consume". Especially once you factor in consuming it again, which is almost always necessary for high retention.
The best way to remember what you read is to apply it. If you read a book about programming in python and you want to retain that knowledge, write a program in python. Unfortunately writer's writing advice for other writers but pretending like it's for everyone is too common. >> 1. Quality matters more than quantity. If you read one book a month but fully appreciate and absorb it, you’ll be better off than someone wh…
Obviously, "applying" book knowledge is one of the least efficient or practicable way of improving retention. Also, it would be more around understanding the topics more thoroughly, especially if the author didn't do a good enough job of explaining the concepts already (it's easier to blame the reader, though).
> Mark up the book Good for a book's first reader. What I really hate is browsing a used bookstore and finding something interesting or ordering a used book online, only to find it covered in markings (especially as some readers seem to highlight the most banal things). Very distracting. I usually can't bring myself to mark up my own books for fear that I will distract my future self (or some other future reader if I…
Thinking in these terms, I went from being just horrified at the idea of writing in books (I'm the kid of two college professors lol) to a huge advocate of it. There are some books I won't write in; the less related it is to my job & the more I'm just reading it for fun, or the more surface-level the content is, the less likely I am to write in it. (Also some UX books have really glossy pages and I literally can't.) (The one line I draw is, I will only write in pencil, never pen.) But most books I write tons and tons and tons of comments in the margins, and it really, really, really helps boost retention.
Also, writing in the margins is like actively participating in dialogue with the author and makes the experience a lot more engaging! Which makes me able to stay focused for a lot longer. Like if I'm not writing anything I'll start to get distracted / zone out after maybe 10 minutes, but if I'm interacting, I can stay focused for an hour or more. (Depends on the book and what's on my mind at the time and other environmental factors of course.)
It's the micro-misunderstandings that lead up to the macro-misunderstanding which manifests as "forgetting".
Other commenters also mention applying what's in the book. That is 100% true, when you're reading about how to do something. If you're reading a fact-based book (non-fiction) but not about doing something I usually take a break from the text and think about how it would apply to the subject I'm studying. But it's just obvious that you can't get a concept if you don't understand the words that describe it.
The target is conceptual understanding. It's got nothing to do with memorization. TO get the meaning of a song, for instance, it's not necessary to memorize the lyrics.
One real-world example, I was taking care of my father in the hospital and I noticed one of the techs telling him that he needs to order his dinner from the "dysphagia" menu. I asked her if he could have some other soft foods from home and she said, "all I know is that he needs to order from the menu." I asked her what dysphagia means, honestly I didn't know. She didn't know. I looked it up and told her it means "difficulty in swallowing". She realized that she never actually understood the concept of WHY one needs to order from the menu. As if the food is somehow magic. So that helped her understand the concept of the rule, and why it applies and I am sure she hasn't forgotten it.
I don't take notes, mark up pages or speed read or use any crutch, trick or technique to study. I just get the definitions of words that I don't understand and I do just fine.
I've had some success using the Kindle app highlight feature - highlighting key points as I go along, and then later reviewing just my highlights (which can also be exported). You can add notes to the highlights too.
Readwise (readwise.io) can make that automatic
I use Readwise and honestly it's been game-changing. I highlight quotes out of books I'm reading in my Kindle, and everyday, Readwise sends me a random selection from quotes I've highlighted in the past. Such a simple idea, very low effort, but I definitely retain and absorb a lot more than I did before.
Personal plug: I made a Chrome extension to show you a random quote from your Readwise in your new tab. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/readwise-new-tab/i...