When you read nonfiction (i.e. Designing Data Intensive Applications, Thinking in Systems) how do you 'lock in' your understanding and apply it to your daily life?
Have tried note-taking, book reports, services like Readwise personally.
Ask HN: How do you synthesize books that you read?
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Re: Ask HN: How do you synthesize books that you read?
#2Depends on the type of book.
coding book -> jypter notebooks.
physics/ math book -> a notebook with the feynman method.
History, general reading -> rewriting your understanding in a narrative word doc.
Always have a 'Why' when reading. Play with the problems and use the concepts towards some 'end' not in the book.
edit: "How to read a book" is a good book.
Re: Ask HN: How do you synthesize books that you read?
#3Explain it to somebody else.
Re: Ask HN: How do you synthesize books that you read?
#4I have success retaining information by explaining it to another human being. This can lead to me rereading sections and keeps me engaged with the content.
This is consistent with what I have read from "Your Memory : How It Works and How to Improve It" by K. Higbee.
Re: Ask HN: How do you synthesize books that you read?
#5Simple and judicious note-taking as I read the book for the first time, by pen & paper; then I usually leave those notes tucked into the front of the book, and for a couple years, I revisit and review those notes every few months. At some point I might re-read the book.
Re: Ask HN: How do you synthesize books that you read?
#6Explain it to somebody else.
Similar idea here. I take notes as if I'm explaining it to someone else or expecting someone else (or myself in a few years) to read it.
Re: Ask HN: How do you synthesize books that you read?
#7I have success retaining information by explaining it to another human being. This can lead to me rereading sections and keeps me engaged with the content. This is consistent with what I have read from "Your Memory : How It Works and How to Improve It" by K. Higbee.
This is the best way I've found for clarifying and cementing my understanding of a nonfiction book. Two great opportunities for this conversation can be discussing the book you're reading with your partner, and recommending a book to a friend.
Re: Ask HN: How do you synthesize books that you read?
#8As a systems-minded reader-person:
I like to ask an LLM for 3-5 good ways to know that one really understands the content in question.
Then I ask for examples of each of those, used in a specific setting (code for an app or script I need / project I'm working on, for example).
I also like to pre-read the book based on podcast interviews, YouTube summaries, and so on.
If the book is written from first principles, I will probably find it easier to work through it backwards, as the back of the book is typically where the most functional interfaces to the "world I already know" are demonstrated in such books.
To me this is also a common sign of someone who's a natural systems thinker (since you mentioned the topic): First principles are the wrong end of the learning process.
A natural systems thinker may even hear the phrase "first principles" and immediately start to feel boredom, impatience, and time escaping their grasp. :-)
A systems thinker needs access to working interfaces for systems components first and foremost, not internal components and logic.
This is due to the broad nature of systems work, the interconnectedness of its scope, and so on. Internal logic and single-component foundations focus will effectively block efficiency here.
If it really is more about internal logic of a system's individual component, then this is not systems thinking. Generally here is where you find departure points from systems thinking into more academic-style criticism or analysis. Arguments are definitional in nature and less about work products, economy, or outcomes.
(I also keep a running log and own-structure system if the topic is important to me)
Just some thoughts, good luck.
Re: Ask HN: How do you synthesize books that you read?
#9If I find a non-fiction book interesting, I will often find similar books to read for related perspectives or do focused web searches on sections that I don’t understand well or find particularly interesting/useful.
Re: Ask HN: How do you synthesize books that you read?
#10Depends on the type of book. coding book -> jypter notebooks. physics/ math book -> a notebook with the feynman method. History, general reading -> rewriting your understanding in a narrative word doc. Always have a 'Why' when reading. Play with the problems and use the concepts towards some 'end' not in the book. edit: "How to read a book" is a good book.
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