Read Fewer Books • Hacker News Board

Re: Read Fewer Books

#81

Post by timwaagh » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 4:42 PM UTC

TheUndead96 wrote: post #7

The School of Life infuriates me for many reasons, but I will restrain myself and talk just about this specific post. Perhaps the small libraries of historic figures has more to do with the availability of books than it does their minimalism. I agree that people should not be reading every new self-help or business book that gets published. The majority of new books are bad. History acts as a great filter, which is w…

I think this article is perhaps meant for you. Just to show there is more than one way to think about something. Different perspectives can help you refine your thoughts and help with forming a more refined view on a topic, even if you disagree. In my view reading is just a hobby like netflix or youtube, not something I do because it has any value.

Re: Read Fewer Books

#82

Post by johnfn » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 4:47 PM UTC

Konohamaru wrote: post #20

haffi112 wrote: post #4

A book is a somewhat large time investment. Often it is worth it but often it isn't. The main problem is the sheer amount of books out there. Deciding what to read next is a non-trivial decision problem. Currently I'm basing my decisions on ratings, recommendations from friends and book clubs. It would be nice if sites like Goodreads kept statistics on ratings for second/third/... reading (maybe they do?). Such infor…

> A book is a somewhat large time investment. Often it is worth it but often it isn't. But everyone has time for reddit/hn/facebook. Sometimes for hours at a day. :} I posit that the real problem is that books (especially fiction novels) are engaging but not hypnotic. It's easy to scroll HN because it's literally hypnotic and thus no thinking required. That's why they're called newsFEEDs. You're being spoon-fed news.…

Hypnosis is a lovely metaphor to describe the not-quite-mindful state that I often browse HN in. I’ve been trying to think of a good way to frame that for a while - thanks!

Re: Read Fewer Books

#83

Post by timwaagh » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 4:49 PM UTC

jonstaab wrote: post #58

I thought this was going to be a typical HN "build things instead" thing, but I actually love their take. Looking at the world around us lately I've been realizing more and more that "it's all in Plato"; his Republic is a book I read once in high school, but it's high time to re-read it. What are some books you find your self going back to repeatedly (or want to)? My list: - Domain Driven Design - Ray Bradbury's shor…

LotR, Harry Potter and The Game. But usually I read things once and only once like the article describes.

Re: Read Fewer Books

#84

Post by serjester » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 4:56 PM UTC

TheUndead96 wrote: post #45

kranner wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I also agree with Nassim Taleb, who says that you should try to read the works from people who have actually done something (opposed to modern pseudo-philosophers like Alain de Botton, who is just trying to capitalise on the religion-shaped hole in western morality). And is reading and writing books not 'doing something'? I don't know exactly what Taleb means by it, but it smacks of plain elitism.

I suppose more concretely "doing something related to what you are writing about". On principle I have nothing against pure philosophers, who integrate old theories and formulate new ones. However, in my experience, writings like that of Marcus Aurelius are more compelling, who was a success in his own right before ever writing anything. Most modern "business" authors don't have any business (other than selling books…

Couldn't agree more. There's something to be said for life experience which filters out the irrelevant and the non-important. I've always appreciated the story about the pit trader that earned millions in his career trading green lumber, all while assuming it's just lumber that's been painted green. It's too easy to theorize in an ivory tower and miss what's actually important.

Re: Read Fewer Books

#85

Post by katsume3 » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 4:57 PM UTC

The Internet has changed how I assimilate knowledge. It has wired my brain to pay attention to soundbites, rather than lofty tomes. This is why I am the proud owner of a large list of various short proverbs & idioms that I have gathered over the years via social media. I only collect the ones that help me in some way and discard anything that doesn't resonate with me. One example is this phrase by Lao Tzu

    A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step[0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_journey_of_a_thousand_miles_...

In every book, you can find little kernels of truth and can distill many larger points made in a book, down to helpful and short gems of wisdom. For me this is how I can take a shortcut and avoid reading ridiculous amounts of books!

Does anyone else do this?

Re: Read Fewer Books

#86

Post by vikramkr » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 4:58 PM UTC

The minimalist attitude to reading in medicine was a disaster. For centuries "doctors" only studied the classic texts (inaccuracies and all) and reading widely or seeking new medical knowledge was discouraged or made illegal. Medicine was correspondingly stagnant. The history of mankind isn't a straight line of progress, but if you're pointing to the past to show why we should be doing things differently today, you better make a way more convincing case than the one presented here about why that aspect of the past was better. At least try to argue the scholarship of the days past was better than the scholarship of today (not an easy argument to make). Otherwise, its just like an argument for a paleo diet - why would I want to adopt a diet for health reasons based on an idea that said diet was consumed by people that lived short, brutal lives?

Re: Read Fewer Books

#87

Post by asimovfan » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

haffi112 wrote: post #4

A book is a somewhat large time investment. Often it is worth it but often it isn't. The main problem is the sheer amount of books out there. Deciding what to read next is a non-trivial decision problem. Currently I'm basing my decisions on ratings, recommendations from friends and book clubs. It would be nice if sites like Goodreads kept statistics on ratings for second/third/... reading (maybe they do?). Such infor…

Read what you enjoy, and then read what the author mentions enjoying reading. Read a P.G. Wodehouse book: my personal suggestion. Preferably one from the Jeeves series.

A good book is not worth the investment only if you don't like it. I would assert that there aren't many worthless books that you can really enjoy. Also don't be afraid to drop a book that you find boring even if everyone says it's a great book its a classic etc. A good book will feel like a drug, you won't be able to put it down. It's not an investment its something you do for escapism. If it doesn't feel this way, just don't read it.

Re: Read Fewer Books

#88

Post by RugnirViking » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

Cro_on wrote: post #73

rgoulter wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Sports is to war as pornography is to sex." — Jonathan Haidt

Except that the universal adoption of sports would result in a net positive. The same cannot be said for pornography. Also it makes just as much sense like this: 'sports is to sex as pornography is to war.'

Presumably that is because war is bad and sex is not bad?

Re: Read Fewer Books

#89

Post by goodlifeodyssey » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 5:02 PM UTC

Timpy wrote: post #48

> Similarly, in the Ancient Greek world, one was meant to focus in on a close knowledge of just two books: Homer’s Odyssey and his Iliad Can anybody on HN verify if this is true? I thought the Iliad and Odyssey were only two of Homer's works, the rest of them lost. Why would the Ancient Greek focus on those two and not any of Homer's not-yet-lost works? Did the Ancient Greek person really read these as fervently as a…

> Did the Ancient Greek person really read these as fervently as a modern religious person reads their holy book?

I doubt they viewed Homer like religious people view their sacred texts. However, Ancient Greek writers do quote and discuss Homer extensively. For example, Herodotus and Thucydides reference (and speculate) about Homer. Plato's dialogues refer to Homer a lot. Seneca, several hundred years later, is still quoting Homer with the assumption that his audience will know the poems quite well.

Re: Read Fewer Books

#90

Post by enkid » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

null_object wrote: post #39

enkid wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a big fan of this article, but I don't think it's advocating reading less. Rather, it advocates rereading a few core works more. There's something to be said for knowing a few things well instead of trying to know everything, but I also think getting exposed to new ideas is important.

I think my main disagreement with the entire tenor of the article, is that it treats reading as just one more aspect of the modern obsession of 'self-improvement', whereas I read because it's fun. This doesn't mean that I never re-read a book - last year I re-read War & Peace, for instance. But I didn't do it to somehow deepen my knowledge of a 'core work' I read it again primarily because it's an immensely enjoyable…

I totally agree. I like rereading Terry Pratchett books because I enjoy them. I reread philosophy books because I want to remember the arguments and get a new perspective on the work based on new experience. I read books about physics, biology, history, psychology and other subjects to expose myself to new ideas and try to expand my thinking. I think there's a ideal mean here that rereads some and reads new books some.