How to Read Better
Summary
TLDRThe speaker emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity in reading, suggesting that becoming a better reader is a journey that involves personal growth and development. They compare reading to exercise, noting that just like physical muscles, our reading abilities need to be trained and developed. The speaker offers practical advice on how to improve reading skills, such as reading books more than once to grasp the full depth of the content, taking light annotations to facilitate deeper understanding during a second read, and selecting books intentionally based on specific interests or authors. They also stress the value of carrying a book or access to one's preferred reading material at all times to integrate reading into daily life, making it a habit and ultimately enhancing one's reading experience and comprehension.
Takeaways
- 📚 **Quality Over Quantity**: Focus on reading fewer books deeply rather than many books superficially.
- 🏋️ **Reading as Exercise**: Like physical exercise, reading requires practice and gradual development of mental faculties.
- 📈 **Gradual Progress**: Start with shorter reading sessions and gradually increase intensity and duration to improve focus and comprehension.
- 🔁 **Rereading Books**: Reading a book twice helps in understanding the whole and how the parts come together, especially useful for non-fiction.
- 📝 **Selective Note-Taking**: Take notes sparingly while reading to avoid information overload and to prepare for a more in-depth second read.
- 📚 **Intentional Reading**: Choose books deliberately based on interest, research, or to understand a particular author's work.
- 🎯 **Purposeful Selection**: Books should be selected to align with personal goals or to gain a deeper understanding of a specific subject.
- 📒 **Note-Taking Method**: Develop a personal note-taking system that involves light annotations and the transformation of these into more structured notes.
- 📚 **Narrative of Reading**: Create a narrative or theme for your reading journey rather than picking books randomly.
- 🚀 **Carry Your Book**: Always have a book with you to take advantage of spare moments throughout the day and make reading a habit.
Q & A
What is the main focus of becoming a better reader according to the transcript?
-The main focus is on quality rather than quantity. It emphasizes understanding and internalizing what is read, rather than just reading a large number of books.
Why does the speaker compare reading to exercise?
-Reading is compared to exercise because, like physical muscles, the mental faculties used in reading need to be developed and trained. Just as with exercise, there is a need to start slowly and gradually increase the intensity and duration.
What is the 'Fast and Dirty method' of reading as mentioned in the transcript?
-The 'Fast and Dirty method' refers to the first, quicker read-through of a book with the aim to grasp the main point or argument the author is trying to convey.
Why is rereading books recommended in the transcript?
-Rereading books is recommended because it allows for a deeper understanding of the material. The first reading provides an overview, and the second reading allows the reader to see how all the parts come together to support the author's argument.
How does the speaker suggest taking notes while reading?
-The speaker suggests lightly annotating the text with a pencil, using check marks next to relevant passages, and writing brief summaries at the end of chapters. Detailed note-taking should be done during a second, slower reading.
What is the importance of picking the right books to read?
-Picking the right books is important because it helps create a narrative or purpose for your reading journey. It allows for a deeper exploration of a topic, understanding of an author's work, or furthering a research program.
Why might reading widely be less effective than reading with a specific purpose?
-Reading widely without a specific purpose might not provide a cohesive learning experience or allow for deep understanding of a particular subject. It could lead to a disjointed collection of readings without a clear direction or goal.
How can carrying a book or a Kindle with you help in becoming a better reader?
-Carrying a book or Kindle helps in finding extra time to read throughout the day, turning reading into a habit. This practice makes it easier to integrate reading into daily life and increases the likelihood of reading regularly.
What is the speaker's opinion on reading the works of a single author extensively?
-The speaker sees value in reading as much of a single author's work as possible in a year to understand the range of their capabilities, from their best to their less outstanding works.
Why does the speaker recommend not using apps or software for note-taking while reading?
-The speaker prefers a simple and analog method for note-taking, suggesting that the process of physically annotating and sorting through notes is more useful and helps in better understanding and retaining the information.
What is the final piece of advice the speaker gives for becoming a better reader?
-The final piece of advice is to always have a book with you, use a pencil for light annotations, and be prepared to revisit and study great works, making reading a habitual and intentional practice.
Outlines
📚 Embracing the Journey to Better Reading
The speaker emphasizes the desire of many to read challenging books across various genres, including classics, philosophy, and serious non-fiction. They share personal insights and strategies that have been instrumental in their development as a reader over the years, including education, work, and life experiences. The focus is on reading quality over quantity, with a preference for deep, meaningful engagement with fewer books rather than skimming through many without retention. The analogy of reading to exercise is introduced, highlighting the need for mental and ocular faculties to be developed and trained, just like muscles.
🔍 Reading Books Twice for Deeper Understanding
The paragraph discusses the holistic nature of understanding a book or argument, suggesting that reading a book twice can be beneficial. The first read is described as a 'Fast and dirty method' to grasp the main point, while the second, slower read allows for a more thorough analysis of how the book's components come together. This approach is particularly recommended for non-fiction. The speaker also shares their experience with reading Hegel and the importance of not being intimidated by the volume of notes, advocating for light annotation and focused note-taking to facilitate a deeper comprehension during the second reading.
📚 Selecting the Right Books for a Coherent Reading Journey
The speaker advises on the importance of choosing books deliberately rather than randomly. They suggest that readers should have a clear reason for selecting each book, which could be based on a particular interest, a research program, or a desire to explore an author's body of work. The paragraph provides examples of how to select books to understand political theories or to delve into a specific author's oeuvre. The speaker also encourages readers to carry a book with them, facilitating the habit of reading and making it a part of their daily routine.
🎓 Final Thoughts on Becoming a Better Reader
In the concluding paragraph, the speaker reiterates the importance of carrying a book or a means to access one at all times, such as a Kindle or audiobook, to utilize spare moments for reading. They also recommend keeping a pencil handy for note-taking and being prepared to revisit great works. The speaker summarizes their advice and expresses their intention to continue the conversation in future discussions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Reading Quality
💡Reading as Exercise
💡Rereading
💡Note-Taking
💡Book Selection
💡Carry a Book
💡Intentional Reading
💡Literary Analysis
💡Reading Muscles
💡PhD in Philosophy
💡Author's Corpus
Highlights
The importance of becoming a better reader is emphasized over simply reading more books.
Quality of reading is prioritized over quantity, with a focus on deep understanding rather than the number of books read.
Reading is compared to exercise, highlighting the need for developing mental faculties through practice.
The necessity to start slow and gradually increase reading intensity and duration is discussed.
The suggestion to read books more than once to better understand the author's message and argument structure.
The 'Fast and dirty method' of reading a book quickly to grasp the main point before a more thorough second reading.
The value of rereading non-fiction to see how different parts of the book support the author's thesis.
The advice against taking excessive notes while reading, recommending light annotations instead.
The strategy of summarizing the argument of a chapter in a paragraph at the end to prepare for a second read.
The importance of picking the right books to read, with a purpose or a plan, rather than random selection.
Reading widely is encouraged, but within a thematic or author-focused context to create a narrative in one's reading journey.
The recommendation to carry a book or access to an e-reader or audiobook to find extra time to read throughout the day.
The habit of carrying a pencil for note-taking to be prepared for revisiting and annotating great works.
The transformative effect of turning reading into a habitual practice, leading to becoming a better reader.
The emphasis on making reading a deliberate act of self-formation and moral development.
The practical advice of having a book with you at all times to utilize spare moments for reading.
The final point about making reading easy to practice by choosing a good book and a good reason for reading it.
Transcripts
a lot of people want to read hard books
that's to say that they want to be able
to dive into say Classics or they want
to be able to read philosophy or just
serious non-fiction or maybe some
literature that's more on the literary
side of things maybe a little less than
the genre side of things all of this is
to say that there are a lot of people
who want to become better readers so I
want to give you a couple of tips that I
have found useful in my journey to
become a better reader this is a journey
that has taken me a number of years it
has involved going to school it has
involved graduating finishing graduate
school entering the workforce finding a
new Rhythm starting a family all of that
stuff right uh and and while I've done
all of that I think I've also been able
to uh really become much happier with
not just how much I read but how I read
and that and that really is a critical
point we want to focus on becoming good
readers not becoming faster readers I am
definitely someone who is all about
quality rather than quantity when it
comes to reading if you told me that you
read five books Heck if you told me that
you only read one book all year but you
read it deeply and it was a it was a one
that you actually had to work at I would
be thrilled I would think that you had
done something amazing
and in fact I would find that more
impressive than saying that you were
able to read 100 books this year
especially if you didn't get much out of
the majority of those books that you
read I know I for one have intentionally
slowed down my reading I'm reading a
little bit less this year
um and I feel good about that decision
but it's easy to say that we want to
become better readers but it's a little
bit harder to put that into practice
especially if you just don't know where
to start so let's talk about that today
so my first point is that reading is a
lot like exercise
I say this for a couple of reasons
many people want to be in better shape
but they find going to the gym very hard
to do in the same way I think that many
people want to have read a lot of good
books and they want to have understood
them well but they find actually picking
up the book and doing the work to be
kind of boring maybe a little painful
and just in general they struggle to
find motivation
now if reading is like working out that
lends itself to another analogy which is
to say that whatever faculties you are
using when you read these faculties of
the mind or the soul or just even of the
eyes
they need to be developed if you haven't
been reading a lot lately and you pick
up some Homer or some Dante or some
Aristotle or even uh shorter works like
various poems by Emily Dickinson
you shouldn't expect those Works to just
reveal themselves to you you shouldn't
expect it to be easy
if you've ever taken a break from
exercise and then try to get back into
it I think you probably know what it's
like it kind of hurts there's definitely
some pain involved
so those reading muscles right these
faculties that we use when we're reading
they need to be developed and trained
and that means partly we need to sort of
build up the intensity and also the
duration
but this also means that you need to go
slowly at first
if you decide that you want to read more
or read more deeply it doesn't mean that
you need to block off all of your
Saturday to read if you especially if
you haven't been reading a lot lately
block off 30 minutes a couple of times a
week and really devote yourself and
you'll find that eventually you can just
read longer your attention won't drift
and you'll just find yourself able to
really understand
what you've read I'm basically saying if
you want to become a better reader you
need to practice at it but I want to
give you a few more practical tips that
might not be so obvious first of all I
am going to suggest that you should try
to read books more than once this is
especially true if you are reading
non-fiction as someone with a PhD in
philosophy I can tell you this I have
never been able to intelligently discuss
a work whether that was book or an
article after just reading it once
oftentimes when we approach a work we
don't see what the author intends
especially early on and so since we
can't see what the author intends what
the the message is going to be or what
the thesis is that's being argued for
since we can't see that we can't quite
understand how all of the early pieces
this Foundation that's being laid how
they're all going to kind of come
together and then support or actually
fail to support this conclusion or this
message what I want to say is evaluating
a book or an argument in a book is often
very holistic and so we need to be able
to understand the whole in order to
understand the parts even while those
parts help us to understand the whole
and I have found that the best way to do
this is to read a book twice
first time you read it I call it sort of
The Fast and dirty method you're going
to read it fairly quickly and you're
going to try to see what the point is
what is the author trying to get you to
believe or to understand
after you think you've established that
and you've grasped it you can then go
back and do your slow read
now this doesn't have to be something
that you do immediately in fact you
might want to take a little bit of time
between your fast read and your slow
read
but really going over for that second
pass is tremendously helpful because now
that you understand the point of the
work you're able to see how all of those
little pieces come together
now this might be harder for us to do
with fiction typically we don't like to
reread novels you know within a year or
two of reading them but I do think
especially and and so maybe this point
is a little bit more geared towards
non-fiction
um I remember when I was trying to read
Hegel for the first time
um I had a professor who was a Hegel
scholar and when I asked him how I
should approach Hegel as someone who had
never read him he said read all of Hegel
and of course uh if you know anything
about Hegel I think you'll know that
this is this is scary advice to receive
especially if you're fresh out of your
undergrad days and you're just cracking
into German idealism
but I do think he had the right idea
um
I tried to read a lot of Hegel very
quickly Hegel is notoriously difficult
to read I don't think I Could
reconstruct a single one of hegel's
arguments but I was able to grasp a
larger picture of Hegel and sort of the
the sort of shape and structure of his
thought and then when I went to write a
paper at the end of that semester on a
more specific issue I did a slightly
better job than I would have if I hadn't
tried to sort of binge read Hegel that
said my Hegel paper was not very good
possibly the worst paper I wrote in
graduate school
um I don't have a copy of it anymore and
I'm fairly glad about that my second
piece of advice is that you are going to
want to take notes but you're not going
to want to take notes while you read
there are a lot of people who get really
hung up about taking notes as they read
and so if they're reading a work of
philosophy or let's say a work of
history they're going to write down
every point they think is important and
they're always taking notes they're
always marking up those books a lot of
these notes frankly are garbage they
aren't actually helpful for your own
thoughts they're not immediately helpful
for understanding what the author was
intending or trying to understand the
author and you're going to produce such
a volume of notes that's sorting and
sifting through them is is really quite
difficult
I prefer when I'm taking notes on a book
to lightly annotate so I use a pencil I
just use a little check mark next to
passages that I think are relevant and
maybe I'll write less than a sentence in
the margin every so often
sometimes if I'm feeling kind of fancy I
use these book tabs they're brightly
colored and I place them next to quotes
that I think are going to be relevant
at most I write about a paragraph at the
end of a chapter where I try to
summarize what the argument was and
where we are in the dialectic that
really should take 10 minutes at most
per chapter
by the end you're left with at most a
page and a half of notes maybe two pages
you're left with some light annotations
but what have you done you have set
yourself up for your second read you
have now set yourself up to to go and
read it slowly again and then decide
what actually gets to be a note
your notes are actually kind of a
limited resource because you need to be
able to understand them all and place
them together to form their own kind of
cohesive unit so as you are reading the
second time you can look through these
passages that you've marked and you can
decide which ones actually deserve to be
turned into notes that's where you can
add some of your own commentary I might
do a video one day which is about my own
note-taking method I do kind of have one
it's a bit of a system but I think Ryan
holiday and I have basically the same
method lightly annotate turn them into
physical note cards and then sort them I
do think that labor that of of going
through uh your physical annotations is
quite useful it's for this reason that I
don't use apps or software I just really
prefer to keep it kind of simple and
analog right so now that you've decided
that you're going to read a book twice
that you're going to take notes but
you're going to do it in this kind of
intentional way you're not going to be
too messy about your notes the third
thing is you need to pick the right
Books A lot of people just decide they
want to read more and there is real
value in Reading widely but what often
can happen is that when you look back at
all the books that you've read you
realize that there's no narrative to
your journey you just kind of picked
books that you thought sounded
interesting now on the one hand you
should sometimes just read a book
because it sounds interesting I think
this is great but for most of the time
you should be picking your books for a
good reason now figuring out those
reasons is a little bit easier if you're
say a student engaging in a long
research program and most of you
watching this video aren't engaged in
that kind of research program you just
want to read more so you're not picking
based on how to further your research
program so let me give you a couple of
sample reasons or questions you might
ask yourself
one are you just interested in a
particular topic so for some of us
that's going to be very general say you
really like politics and maybe you want
to understand what the great minds have
thought about politics well in that case
you should probably read some John Locke
and some Adam Smith and some marks and
maybe some later Marxist and you should
read John Rawls if you want to
understand a theories of liberal
democracy you might want to read Martha
Nussbaum for another uh great
philosopher writing about these things
also with kind of an ancient eye as she
also is a Greek scholar you might want
to read some Confucius or other works of
Chinese political philosophy you might
want to read Thomas Hobbes right that is
a fairly diverse collection of texts but
all of them will help you better achieve
your goal which is to kind of understand
the Deep problems of politics maybe you
don't have one of those driving interest
however and you're just really
interested in like one particular author
often when we talk about the great books
we make this mistake of thinking that we
should only talk about the best books by
that particular author now one of my
favorite authors
um is fyodo Dostoevsky
and I've only read a few of his works
the works that I have read are are so
astounding to me that I just know he's
near the top
but as I'm thinking about what I want to
read maybe going into 2023 something I'm
considering is why don't I just read as
much Dost diavsky as I can you know as I
can handle in a year
and you know I'll read uh three or four
more novels there's a lot of value in
that because you'll understand the highs
of an author's Corpus but you'll also
understand the lows because not every
book by them is going to be astounding
uh frankly Dostoevsky wrote uh Crime and
Punishment which is my favorite book and
if he wrote any other books
um they just won't be as good as crime
and punishment in my mind and and I
can't go into it expecting that but I
know that dust ASCII is capable of
greatness and I want to see what else he
can do
so you might pick an author or you might
pick like a really specific sub-genre
perhaps you're really into afrofuturism
and you want to understand how uh that
genre has kind of developed over time so
those are a few different ways to pick
how you're going to read either to
further your research program or to just
help you understand that big topic that
you keep coming back to in your own
thoughts or to explore the life and work
of a particular author all of these I
would say are good reasons and this is
not an exhaustive list my main point and
the one I really hope you take away from
this video is that you should be
thinking about what you want to read
maybe crafting yourself a little plan
because what you read isn't just a
matter of what books you buy and spend
your time with you're actually deciding
what kind of person you want to be as
with anything where we are actually
engaging in moral or self formation we
just have to think through it this
really isn't something that we can ever
leave to chance I finally one last point
and this is purely practical almost
nothing philosophical about it it's just
something that really helped me get in
the habit of carrying your book with you
or carrying your Kindle with you if you
read an e-reader or always having access
to your audiobook if that's your
preferred way to consume a book you will
find time to read throughout your day
maybe you work at a desk job and you
take a longer lunch and you might be
able to read for 15 minutes that 15
minutes is better spent with a good book
than it is on your phone or when you're
about to go to sleep try to read for
just a couple of minutes before you turn
off the lights keeping your books with
you is really going to help you find
that extra time to read and it's going
to turn reading into a second nature
it's truly going to become habitual and
once it becomes habitual you're going to
find that you do it more often and then
you just become a better and better
reader again we're trying to practice
becoming readers and we want to make it
easy for ourselves to practice so pick a
good book and pick it for a good reason
keep keep it with you as often as you
can keep a pencil in your pocket so you
can take a few notes and be prepared to
revisit these great works alright that's
all I have for you now so I'll talk to
you next time
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