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Fighting Infomania: Why 80% of Your Reading Is a Waste of Time (2016)

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Re: Fighting Infomania: Why 80% of Your Reading Is a Waste of Time (2016)

#31

Post by pcthrowaway »

Scubabear68 wrote: post #13

I completely disagree with the article’s core premise. I have read voraciously for my entire life since I was a little kid. Maybe much of it wasted, yet tidbits of knowledge I have gained over the years of reading come up constantly, and give me a bit of a leg up in conversations. HN is a big part of that, I can read about a wide array of technologies and processes and science that I normally would never encounter. A…

It sounds like you may have just read the title. The article seems to be specifically about the tendency to use information seeking as a means of procrastination.

Re: Fighting Infomania: Why 80% of Your Reading Is a Waste of Time (2016)

#32

Post by _chu1 »

calvinmorrison wrote: post #15

I snagged a cheap bench press and squat rack and a huge set of weights on Craigslist. I decided I would get back into a basic lifting routine I did in high school and asked some friends who do that. I quickly was engulfed with endless articles and information. I have decided to eschew any learning and stick with "Me big caveman. lift big rock get stronger" approach and it's working fine. Taking it easy, enjoying it,…

I read a lot like for instance on this website and some nonfiction literature but I stay away from the news and mainstream media, so I'm usually quite out of the loop and I like it here.

Re: Fighting Infomania: Why 80% of Your Reading Is a Waste of Time (2016)

#34

Post by great_wubwub »

kiba wrote: post #16

I think this is a shallow article. First, just in time manufacturing has the noted weakness of having no slack or resilience in the system. This is part of why we experienced supply chain disruption during the pandemic. Second, it is assuming that knowledge that's not being 'used' right now in production environment is useless. For example, the way people avoid scam and snake-oil medicine is not by directly knowing e…

> just in time manufacturing has the noted weakness of having slack or resilience in the system

Did you mean 'having no slack or resilience'?

Assuming you did and I understand your point, I disagree with it insofar as it applies to knowledge. Yes, JIT manufacturing of real things can be easily tripped up and it screwed us during the pandemic, but does that apply here? The author is saying "when you figure out what you need to read, go out and get it" rather than "keep a bunch of tabs and bookmarks hanging around in case you need them".

I mean, yeah, I guess if you only read things you can get from the library or in dead tree form, but if you really want to read something there's ebooks and audiobooks galore out there, and if we have a supply chain mess that's so bad that you can't get an electronic book, we're all kinda screwed anyways.

Re: Fighting Infomania: Why 80% of Your Reading Is a Waste of Time (2016)

#35

Post by BlueTemplar »

Tycho wrote: post #10

It's interesting to consider that being 'well read' may always be a function of, say, the last 10 books you read (or the number of books your read in the last 3 years, or something like that).

That would be more about philosophical knowledge, not tactical knowledge ?? And on its face, seems to be wrong, care to expand ? (And even some of the greatest fiction might apply here, not only nonfiction, not sure if you were considering that too ?)

Re: Fighting Infomania: Why 80% of Your Reading Is a Waste of Time (2016)

#36

Post by Modified3019 »

pleasantpeasant wrote: post #17
bsnnkv wrote: post #12

Reminds me of my own approach of RINORIN (read it now or read it never) which I've written about on HN before and led me to cancel all my RIL app subscriptions and create https://notado.app for my own personal needs instead.

I leave up articles for days hoping I'll read them, they pile up in my tabs— wasting so much memory. A lot of pc memory is wasted from just this on my end and I know I'm not the only one. It's interesting to think about how much wasted energy comes from tabs you're leaving open, hoping you'll get back to them one day.

Use the Onetab extension. Click the button and it stuffs all tabs into a big list, which you can go back to (ha! yeah right) or export to a text file that let's you ignore it for the rest of time without triggering the anxiety of having to decide to throw away information.

https://www.one-tab.com/

Re: Fighting Infomania: Why 80% of Your Reading Is a Waste of Time (2016)

#37

Post by catskul2 »

briga wrote: post #30

Does reading have to be "productive" in order to be worthwhile? I would argue that reading is an enjoyable activity regardless of whether there are any tangible benefits. Similar to how it's enjoyable to go on a meandering walk. Even though there are more efficient forms of cardio and you could get to where your going faster by driving, that doesn't keep the activity from being enjoyable in and of itself. I've probab…

> If it doesn’t answer a specific question you’re currently asking, cover philosophical knowledge, or entertain you, then don’t read it.

I think that's covered under "entertain you".

Re: Fighting Infomania: Why 80% of Your Reading Is a Waste of Time (2016)

#38

Post by coffeebeqn »

briga wrote: post #30

Does reading have to be "productive" in order to be worthwhile? I would argue that reading is an enjoyable activity regardless of whether there are any tangible benefits. Similar to how it's enjoyable to go on a meandering walk. Even though there are more efficient forms of cardio and you could get to where your going faster by driving, that doesn't keep the activity from being enjoyable in and of itself. I've probab…

Seems to be some kind of sigma grind set hustle blog. He read 30+ business books in a short period? I just don’t think I exist on the same plane

Re: Fighting Infomania: Why 80% of Your Reading Is a Waste of Time (2016)

#40

Post by kiba »

great_wubwub wrote: post #34
kiba wrote: post #16

I think this is a shallow article. First, just in time manufacturing has the noted weakness of having no slack or resilience in the system. This is part of why we experienced supply chain disruption during the pandemic. Second, it is assuming that knowledge that's not being 'used' right now in production environment is useless. For example, the way people avoid scam and snake-oil medicine is not by directly knowing e…

> just in time manufacturing has the noted weakness of having slack or resilience in the system Did you mean 'having no slack or resilience'? Assuming you did and I understand your point, I disagree with it insofar as it applies to knowledge. Yes, JIT manufacturing of real things can be easily tripped up and it screwed us during the pandemic, but does that apply here? The author is saying "when you figure out what yo…

Assuming you did and I understand your point, I disagree with it insofar as it applies to knowledge. Yes, JIT manufacturing of real things can be easily tripped up and it screwed us during the pandemic, but does that apply here? The author is saying "when you figure out what you need to read, go out and get it" rather than "keep a bunch of tabs and bookmarks hanging around in case you need them".

I am an advocate of learning broadly, instead of being narrow. That's not to say you shouldn't learn only the things you found that you need, but that it shouldn't be the only thing you're doing.

Books, I assumed, will be there if you need it.

The just in time example is a great example of why you need to read broadly. If you read about logistics about the pandemic, you would have learned about the weakness of just in time.

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