5 ms·
Ask HN: How do you read?
Sometimes when I'm reading a book, I get into this mad rush to note down any and every new idea I come across. At the end of it I'll have a pile of notes but I don't seem to have connected the ideas to anything I already know. They just hang around as statements. At other times, I read slowly and at the end of a 300 page book I might have only three key ideas that I remember, but I'm able to explain and illustrate them well. However, that leaves me feeling like I should've worked harder on the book. I can't seem to find a balance.
Also, if you revise your notes after a considerable time do you ever feel like updating them with any new insights or examples? How do you do that? Is there an app that you use?
Last point, sometimes my head explodes with questions when I read something. It's not possible to pursue all of them right then and not all of them are relevant to understanding the topic at hand, but I've also not been able to come up with a system to organize them and follow up later.
I love to read but I get frustrated because I feel I could be more efficient.
So HN, any ideas, suggestions, your methods and experiences, please share.
(I'm reading The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman right now)
- glook 10y agoI highlight a lot. If there is a key concept or something that I want to learn more about, I highlight it and let it go. Then, I come back through the book and review the highlights when I'm not reading to read.
- PaulHoule 10y agoI read a lot on my tablet at the gym. If something is really hard to read and technical I'll read it several times in a row. I am not a big fan of highlighting, often I come back to a book I highlighted later and wonder what I was thinking back then.
- f_allwein 10y agoLearning to speed read helps a lot. I worked through Breakthrough Rapid Reading by Peter Kump and really liked it: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100800.Breakthrough_Rapid_Reading http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100800.Breakthrough_Rapid... I highlight important stuff while I read. After reading, I usually create a word doc/ mindmap with the key ideas.
- grif-fin 10y agoYou are not alone but not common. I have the very similar experience with reading. I prefer textbooks than novels in general and I am indeed slow in going through them. I think I understand it more in depth and pay attention to more details than other I've talked to about this. It seems like a forced trade-off to me as I have no choice but to continue this way with reading. I cannot simply proceed if questions are unanswered. Looking it from an advantage point if the good read is chosen the knowledge is acquired and understood in powerful depth. I guess better teachers we would be.
- dsinecos 10y ago"I cannot simply proceed if questions are unanswered." I know this feeling. I do force myself to proceed but it feels like I'm cheating myself. Do you always hang around at that point until you clear up the question? What if it's something that would benefit if you allowed it to brew in the back of your mind? How do you keep track of such questions. Sorry if i'm splitting hairs.
- grif-fin 10y agoIf it is something that I do not know the definition or complexity of it I search it at that point. Sometimes this initiates the Wikipedia effect which can distract. Naturally if this happens a lot during one reading that gives me a signal that perhaps I should take a step back and read more basic stuff.
- e19293001 10y agoWhen I read a textbook, a specification or an article or something technical that I consider important parts I use the Feynman Technique[0]. As from what the linked article says, The technique is simple: 1. Get a piece of paper 2. Write at the top the idea or process you want to understand 3. Explain the idea, as if you were teaching it to someone else What’s crucial is that the third step will likely repeat some areas of the idea you already understand. However, eventually you’ll reach a stopping point where you can’t explain. That’s the precise gap in your understanding that you need to fill. I used to repeatedly explain the idea to myself. At first I find it hard to recall though I don't feel discourage when I'm unable to hold it on my mind at first and just think that there are a few that can but once I train myself I'll eventually improve. When reading blogs, HN comments, novels etc., I usually read it once just like I'm watching television or a movie. I don't worry that I read slow since when I've found out that Donald Knuth also reads novels very slowly[1]. If you want a more systematic reading, there is a book[2] which has been mentioned often here in HN. > Is there an app that you use? I use org-mode for everything [0] - http://calnewport.com/blog/2012/10/26/mastering-linear-algebra-in-10-days-astounding-experiments-in-ultra-learning/ http://calnewport.com/blog/2012/10/26/mastering-linear-algeb... [1] - http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/retd.html http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/retd.html [2] - https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Intelligent-Touchstone/dp/0671212095 https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Intelligent-Touchstone/...
- Red_Tarsius 10y agoI usually highlight key concepts of the chapter and rewrite chunks of text into my notebook. Typing on a computer is useless memory-wise, handwriting is more enjoyable and effective. I write small and fast by holding a ruler on the baseline. If I enjoy a topic, I write down and rearrange chunks from different sources. If you look at the same topic from different books, it's easier to grok that knowledge. > I read slowly and at the end of a 300 page book I might have only three key ideas that I remember, but I'm able to explain and illustrate them well. People don't buy brochures, so the writer is driven by the publisher to write hundreds more pages. The market does not reward concise exposition. I read plenty of books with 3 pages worth of ideas and 300 fillers.
- dsinecos 10y ago"If I enjoy a topic, I write down and rearrange chunks from different sources." This. How do you do this? As in do you write down chunks on post its and rearrange, you write them in a notebook and go back and forth, you use some kind of app? I've felt this too, learning from multiple sources is a much more fulfilling experience
- recmend 10y agoI like to read books in hard-copy format and take notes on stuff I liked. Usually my notes are not more than two pages per book and sometimes refer these notes when needed. I try to read one book per month.
- b_emery 10y agoSounds like you need a commonplace book. I read about them in the book "Where good ideas come from". A commonplace book was a notebook used by the likes of Darwin to store and rehash ideas. I use what I consider to be the modern equivalent, which is a personal wiki (I like tiddlywiki, which is a self contained file I put in dropbox so it's available on all my computers. The author cited above uses software called devon-think, which has the advantage of including semantic search, which pairs ideas based on the words in them that you might not otherwise put together. Typically when reading I record quotes and ideas and relevant reference information. The wiki allows tagging so the content gets a number of tags. I've found the ability to re-discover thoughts and ideas to be extremely useful - and was glad to find that there is a historical precedent for this problem/solution.