Why reading less is more.

[ken nubo]

I used to be a hardcore reader, plowing through literally hundreds of books from religion to novels to metaphysics to hard science to gang history to psychology ... a lot of things under the sun. I literally read 300+ books in the past 3 years according to my library record.

Then I suddenly stopped reading books.

I found out that the more people read, the less they think for themselves, so they just spew out pre-digested opinions from books and magazines. They stopped thinking.

Reading doesn't make you smart, reading excellent books make you smart. So be very selective on what kind of books you read. Nowadays I just read non-fiction books, mainly how-to guide to improve my technical skills, like owning a business or learning a foreign language.

If you like reading, fine, but if you think reading the newspaper, junk magazines, novels and lots of books, it isn't going to make you any smarter. Dumber, perhaps.

So start today by reading only what's valuable and practical and not waste your precious time on useless information.

[Mark Lapierre]

You're absolute correct. As long as you don't think about what you read. And if you don't, what's the point in reading at all?

[Shamou]

Hello ken nubo...

Instead of reading 20 books... I read the same book 20 times... (and sometimes more) if it is worth it...

Here are three book that I have spent over a decade on..

Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Rober Pirsig

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective people... by Stephen R. Covey... (only read about 10 times)

Each of those book provide a wealth of info that is invaluable if you want to have a great life...

.

[Grigor]

In most cases, if I look for a fiction book and it is not by an author known to me, just by reading a page or two I can judge if book could be worth reading or not. Of course, no one can make fully qualified review by reading just two pages (although many do ), but in most cases I can make a choice narrower without missing a lot.
Non-fiction is another story. Here you can base mostly on reviews and, although they are usually correct, they are no guarantee at all. At the moment I'm reading a non-fiction book that made lot of buzz but I think that 3/4 of it is absolutely not applicable in majority of cases. That makes it not valuable for me and pretty much loss of time.

[Sunnybayes]

This seems to be related to the Learning but not doing thread.

[llong]

One subtle way to reconsider reading is to ask not "what book am I reading", but rather "what book am I studying".

[ellie]

Oh good at least I'm doing one thing right - I don't remember the last book I read. Infact I rather dislike reading and I've just accepted it.

[Imaginativeone]

Originally Posted by ellie

Oh good at least I'm doing one thing right - I don't remember the last book I read. Infact I rather dislike reading and I've just accepted it.

Thank God that many quality books are in audio format.

[Tom Johns]

Hi Ken:

You’re exactly right. We are wise to guard what goes into head. Not just what we read however… Music, TV, Movies, and Who we Associate With!

That’s a great thing about this forum. There are a lot of wise and intelligent people here.

Tom Johns

[Tristan]

I think that it's not the quality of the reading that a person does that's the most important, but rather, it's the purpose of the reading it in the first place that matters most.

I've never been a huge fiction reader, but I wouldn't say that they don't have their place because there are some greatly moving fiction books out there that can be life changing in terms of eliciting an emotional response from the reader and they broaden your range of thinking. Technical books are great for learning a skill, but without a direction for those skills, you’re stuck being a drone.

Regarding the suggestion that books somehow inhibit natural creative ideas from flowing is not necessarily true in my opinion. I'd venture to say that the less reading you do will inhibit natural creativity because then you are formulating ideas without a firm grasp on the entire subject.

The more reading you do, the more "tid-bits" of ideas you begin to collect inside your head from each author and a by reading more, you begin to attain a better grasp of the subject matter that you are reading, which in effect, starts to transform you into an expert yourself in that given field and by having that expertise in your pocket, you can better analyze the subjects being presented as well as spot flaws in theories and adapt those ideas with your own perspectives instead of accepting everything as the truth. Reading is knowledge and knowledge has the power to reshape your paradigm.

Don’t Confuse the Message with the Medium

Remember that reading is simply a medium of communication, just like television or talking with another person. The medium is inconsequential. It’s the message that matters the most. The value of the message being delivered is it’s ability to produce a positive change in your life. Of course, that message can impact your life negatively as well, so I agree with being selective with the messages that you choose to digest.

Varying Ideas & Perspectives Spark Thinking

One of the great things about reading is that you learn another person’s perspective on a given subject and it might be framed in a way that you have not thought of before. Or you might find it to be totally false. Or you might get offended by their views. In any respect, their ideas make you think for yourself and it forces you to either accept it or not, but that serves to strengthen or reshape your own views on that subject.

Junk Reading is Not Junk if it Serves a Purpose

Even the so-called “junk” reading can be beneficial if it serves a purpose. That purpose might be entertainment or relaxation for example. To make another comparison, I almost always listen to audio books in my car when I’m driving because I think my “University on Wheels” is one of the greatest learning environments around. However, there are times when I want to relax or change my emotions and I’ll listen to my favorite music instead. Do I learn anything from listening to music? Not hardly, but it does serve the purpose of taking care of my needs. Reading is simply a different medium, but same idea.

Junk is Relative

Remember the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?” (or something to that effect). If what you read serves a purpose then really it doesn’t become junk anymore. I used to think reading newspapers and getting junk mail were wasted and often unsolicited pieces of word-processing, but now I love to read both newspapers and junk mail. Why? Because now I’ve gotten into writing press releases and designing direct response advertising and those pieces of junk become very valuable teaching tools for my own professional development. Now I take a look at a piece of junk mail and I study it and figure out why the marketer used certain words or designed it a certain way and why it works or doesn’t, so it becomes an educational tool for me now that creates positive change in my life—hence it is good.

80/20 Rule Towards Reading

I totally agree with the views here so far, I think that the 80/20 rule directly applies to what you read—that 80 percent of the value you will get from your reading efforts will come from the 20 percent of the materials you choose to read, so be selective with reading and focus on those “big rocks” that will deliver the most value to your life at that given moment.

[Sam988]

Complete right. Dont read novels and fiction books (unless theyre really good and have many intelligent insights), read books that make you improve. Reading fictions and novels will only entertain you, its like playing video game or watching TV.

[Jes]

You know, the more I get into PD, the more I find myself checking out older books at the library. There's definitely some good information being shared amongst modern authors, but the minds of today can't compete with the works of, for example, Socrates. Before authors could take on complex issues like micro-management and all this other detail-oriented stuff, they had to take on the bigger, yet somehow simpler, problems. This higher-level thinking is really starting to help me deal with lower-level tasks, especially in recognizing their lack of importance in the overall picture.

[John Wesley]

Great point, Ken

Einstein actually has a famous quote saying pretty much the exact same thing about too much reading leading to lazy ways of thinking.

[Ilya]

Well, you sure made a provocative statement here. I think it is true that 99% of books are rubbish. Especially the modern popular books which can contain no original ideas whatsoever and it will be ok. As with other parts of life you should chose your 1% of books wisely.

Usually, quick research will reveal that in any field there are just a few truly seminal books. They are usually full of original thoughts and enlightening material. If you read them and understand them, you will be able to reconstruct the main ideas of the later books in the same field of knowledge with ease. It usually takes a brief scanning of the table of contents, finding the only chapter or paragraph with the original authors thoughts and trowing the filling material to the trashcan.

The same is true for the fiction. Concentrate on classics, but do read some of the famous works. Otherwise you might know where the modern culture came from. Currently I'm reading Ulises by James Joyce. And it one moment it struck me that this very complex book and it's "stream of consciousness" style is, in fact, the great-grandfather of blogging.

Speaking of blogging, the same less is more thinking applies here. The major reason for Steve's success is that his content is original and not rehashing the other blogger's writing.

So, yes, I agree that it's better to read few carefully selected book rather then stop reading at all. Luckily, even 1% of best books is more then we can read in a lifetime.

[openeyes]

I largely read for fun at this point. For years I'd avoided fiction and stuck with how-to and general personal development books. Slowly I've started bringing in some fiction, such as Heinlein's Starship Troopers. I just finished screwtape letters by cs lewis and checked out Island by Huxley today, which should keep me happily occupied for the next several days. I can definitely see myself rereading some of these eventually. Lately I've enjoyed being in the company of others as I read, so rather than wondering off somewhere alone I'll go to an outdoor restaurant, coffee shop, or arboretum. Somewhere with beautiful people, music, or flowers/trees.

When I was in my early teens I blasted through books with photoreading for a while, now I leisurely stroll through the pages. If I had to get through something quickly for an assignment I could, but in general there's no rush. For me books are another way to have deep conversations with people. I read (listen), and then take a break for a while, just watching my thoughts (response). Maybe I'll scribble some notes down, record a brief thought into my digital recorder, or google a key term it brought to mind and research more. When I'm not reading, I'm conversing with my dreams, with good friends, with the internet, or simply with the world around me as I walk, ride my bike, or have a good, slow meal.

[Precious]

Two questions for all the people on this forum related to this thread.

1.Someone said that books make you smarter. Now how this happens ?
2.When you find an interesting passage in a book what do you do ? Stop and think about it ? Note it ? Continue reading ? Mediate about this ...

Thanks

[kat]

Originally Posted by ken nubo

Reading doesn't make you smart, reading excellent books make you smart. So be very selective on what kind of books you read. Nowadays I just read non-fiction books, mainly how-to guide to improve my technical skills, like owning a business or learning a foreign language.

If you like reading, fine, but if you think reading the newspaper, junk magazines, novels and lots of books, it isn't going to make you any smarter. Dumber, perhaps.

So start today by reading only what's valuable and practical and not waste your precious time on useless information.

There is a lot to be said for broad reading, as well as deep reading. By reading widely, you are exposed to a wider range of ideas. You can also come to have a greater appreciation of the best works, after having contrasted them with shallower ones - and critique them, using critical thinking skills built on works in which flaws are likely more easily found. Perhaps most importantly, to be able to read fluently, one must have read a lot in the past to get to this level: if you can't read without difficulty, reading great works becomes far more tedious and less rewarding.

There are further considerations. One is how well you can write and express yourself; by reading a large variety of well-written works, you can become a much better writer and communicator. I'm not aware of any way to become a good writer short of this, in fact. In this field, both classical rhetoric and modern novels have serious advantages over most technical books. Another consideration is learning to evaluate information for yourself - it's a critical skill, and one which I suspect is best developed by reading large varieties of material, and conscious thought, rather than relying on second-hand information about what is worthwhile.

You mention foreign language learning. For this, unless your goals are purely conversational, it is essential to read a lot, including modern works - many classics use dated structures and vocabulary. This is, to the best of my knowledge, the most effective way to increase your vocabulary from the perhaps 3000 words of everyday conversation to the 20,000-100,000 that you need at least passive knowledge of to be able to read fluently and comfortably.

One concept which appears in several places, including foreign language learning, is that of reading for quantity vs for quality. By reading for quantity, you get massive amounts of input, and greatly increase your understanding. By reading for quality (small amounts of high-quality material, with a great deal of focus), you can fine-tune your understanding and use of words and structures.

[The 'you' above is usually meant to be the general 'one' of English, rather than the specific poster I'm replying to.]

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by Precious

2.When you find an interesting passage in a book what do you do ? Stop and think about it ? Note it ? Continue reading ? Mediate about this ...Thanks

If you want to get something out of a book… you do the same thing that you do when you are studying a subject in school… when you get to an interesting passage… you try to fully understand what the author is saying… and, in doing so, you have to be very careful not to distort the authors words to conform it to your previous beliefs on that subject…

Second, you evaluate the proposition… is it valid or not… is it something that you should add to your bank of references… if so… how and when should it be used… etc…

Third… what I personally do is to transfer the important material on my PC… and review it occasionally or when needed… because I know that every time I review something I will have become a new and different person and may see some little distinction that I had omitted before and that could be all important…

I have important books that I have been studying for decades and it is from these books that have been able to learn and grow the most…

.

[Flyingwithoutwings]

Originally Posted by openeyes

I largely read for fun at this point. For years I'd avoided fiction and stuck with how-to and general personal development books. Slowly I've started bringing in some fiction, such as Heinlein's Starship Troopers. I just finished screwtape letters by cs lewis and checked out Island by Huxley today, which should keep me happily occupied for the next several days. I can definitely see myself rereading some of these eventually. Lately I've enjoyed being in the company of others as I read, so rather than wondering off somewhere alone I'll go to an outdoor restaurant, coffee shop, or arboretum. Somewhere with beautiful people, music, or flowers/trees.

When I was in my early teens I blasted through books with photoreading for a while, now I leisurely stroll through the pages. If I had to get through something quickly for an assignment I could, but in general there's no rush. For me books are another way to have deep conversations with people. I read (listen), and then take a break for a while, just watching my thoughts (response). Maybe I'll scribble some notes down, record a brief thought into my digital recorder, or google a key term it brought to mind and research more. When I'm not reading, I'm conversing with my dreams, with good friends, with the internet, or simply with the world around me as I walk, ride my bike, or have a good, slow meal.

that sounds nice

[Vincentboucher]

I've read about 400 books in 2 years, It was all worth it. Even if the book is bad, it doesn't matter, there muts be in that book one line that was good. One line can change your life forever...