[deleted]
How You Know
31–40 of 276 posts
Re: How You Know
#32There's also a danger associated to this phenomenon. If the source of your mental model is later debunked, you may not realize that you need to revise your model precisely because you don't remember what your source was. You may even read about the debunking of the source but fail to draw the connection and realize the implications that it has for your own view of the world. I think that perhaps very squishy subjects…
Over time, my 'urban legend' bullshit detector has been refined, and is much improved from earlier in my life.
I have, on a few occasions, found myself relating some 'fact' or 'story' and realized immediately that it was likely an urban legend. Both times, the detector was right, and a quick search cleared it up.
I wonder if there is a good way to intentionally 'paw through' your repository on purposes, and apply your life experience to them on purpose.
Re: How You Know
#33I hate this: "What use is it to read all these books if I remember so little from them?"
Because reading is enjoyable?
Re: How You Know
#34There's also a danger associated to this phenomenon. If the source of your mental model is later debunked, you may not realize that you need to revise your model precisely because you don't remember what your source was. You may even read about the debunking of the source but fail to draw the connection and realize the implications that it has for your own view of the world. I think that perhaps very squishy subjects…
This is an important corollary of Paul's essay that I wish he mentioned. Sometimes when you update your model of the world significantly, you still have a cache of previously computed facts that were computed using the old model. You have to clear out that cache and recompute with the new model, and that takes a significant amount of time. Often, rereading is a core part of that, since it forces you to revisit a lot…
[deleted]
Re: How You Know
#35TL;DR: a healthy brain accumulates wisdom, but won't bother archiving the sources of that wisdom.
Re: How You Know
#36It's not that you forget the content, it's that you forget how to phrase it concisely. If the author needed 70, or 200 pages to explain a concept, and you can at some point raise your hand and claim 'I get the point', it's not reasonable to expect a 12-word summary. What do I remember? Hard to put into words. Likewise, it's not reasonable to expect a perfect memory, reciting paragraph after paragraph of the original text.
If you really can summarize a book in a sentence or two, wouldn't the author have done that already?
Maybe it's time for me to reread Cryptonomicon. There are parts of that book I have absolutely no memory of, flipping through it, yet other parts I remember all too often (bicycle sprockets, comets of pee, bisecting alligators, van eck phreaking).
(also... > seige warfare ?)
Re: How You Know
#37> Your mind is like a compiled program you've lost the source of. Hence the important art of keeping a journal. You can keep a transaction log of changes. The act of replaying the journal allows you to identify patterns in your thought processes and identify cognitive dissonances. The very act of reading should induce a reactive compulsion to write. As Burroughs taught in his later creative writing courses -- in orde…
I'm definitely a fan of taking notes on things you've read (among other things, the effort to write notes makes you choose what you read more carefully). And I agree that it will help you remember the sources for various ideas. But I think a journal is the wrong model (i.e. time ordered entries, either electronic or paper). I have used a paper notebook in the past, but I would rarely go back and look at things, and i…
I've heard a few people tell they use a Wiki. Do you host it on your own server? Is is a public wiki, or a private one? I'm very curious.
Re: How You Know
#38I also think that its equally important to reread books that gave you great insight. A few years later with more experience and knowledge you derive more from it.
On first read you have a few key points and years later sometimes those end up knitted together forming a greater insight that eluded you previously.
Re: How You Know
#39[deleted]
Re: How You Know
#40The problems is figuring out which books provide those useful mental models. I found that fiction usually doesn't but a list with recommendations in the comments would be great.
The Conquest of Happiness - the greatest men had the same problems we all do and managed to be great in spite of it
El Aleph - how small we are in this universe, and much much more
Steve Jobs bio - how to focus