How to Read Better

Summary

The 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

00:00

📚 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.

05:01

🔍 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.

10:03

📚 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.

15:03

🎓 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.

Keywords

💡Reading Quality

Reading quality refers to the depth and understanding one gains from reading a text, rather than the quantity of books read. In the video, the speaker emphasizes that reading a single book deeply is more valuable than skimming through many without comprehension. It's about engaging with the material and extracting meaningful insights.

💡Reading as Exercise

The analogy of reading as exercise suggests that, like physical muscles, the mental faculties used in reading need to be developed and trained. The video mentions that reading challenging texts is akin to working out, requiring gradual build-up in intensity and duration to improve one's reading abilities.

💡Rereading

Rereading is the practice of reading a book multiple times to gain a deeper understanding. The video script describes a two-step reading process: a 'fast and dirty' initial read to grasp the main point, followed by a slower, more thorough read to see how the parts of the text come together. This is especially useful for non-fiction and complex philosophical works.

💡Note-Taking

Note-taking is a method for recording important points or thoughts while reading. The speaker in the video advocates for light annotation during the first read and more detailed note-taking during a second read. This approach helps to focus on the most relevant parts of the text and aids in retaining the material's essence.

💡Book Selection

Book selection is the deliberate choice of books to read based on specific interests or goals. The video encourages readers to pick books that align with a particular topic, an author's body of work, or a thematic exploration. This intentional approach to reading is meant to create a narrative for the reader's journey and intellectual growth.

💡Carry a Book

The habit of carrying a book, or having access to reading material, is suggested as a practical tip for finding extra time to read throughout the day. The video script mentions that having a book on hand can turn reading into a habitual activity, making it easier to integrate into one's daily routine.

💡Intentional Reading

Intentional reading is about approaching reading with a purpose or plan, rather than reading randomly. The video script discusses crafting a reading plan to guide one's intellectual development and to ensure that the reading material contributes to personal growth.

💡Literary Analysis

Literary analysis involves a detailed examination of a text to understand its structure, themes, and the author's intentions. The video script uses this concept to explain the importance of reading a book twice: first to understand the overall argument, and second to analyze how the parts contribute to the whole.

💡Reading Muscles

The term 'reading muscles' is a metaphor used in the video to describe the mental and cognitive abilities required for reading. Just as physical muscles need exercise, these 'reading muscles' need to be developed through practice and gradual exposure to more challenging texts.

💡PhD in Philosophy

Having a PhD in philosophy, as mentioned by the speaker, signifies a high level of academic achievement and expertise in philosophical thought. It is used in the video to lend credibility to the speaker's advice on reading and understanding complex philosophical works.

💡Author's Corpus

An author's corpus refers to the complete body of work produced by an author. The video script suggests reading as much of a particular author's work as possible to understand the range of their contributions to literature, including both their most acclaimed and lesser-known works.

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