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Descartes lived in a time when most people couldn't even read and therefore the people who actually wrote books might well have been some of "the greatest minds
by slg 7y ago
Descartes lived in a time when most people couldn't even read and therefore the people who actually wrote books might well have been some of "the greatest minds who ever lived". Today almost everyone can read and almost everyone has the potential to write a book. So if we are talking about baseline quality, the magic of books has decreased a lot since the enlightenment. Today a book is just an indication of quantity of writing and not necessarily an indication of quality. And it isn't like the "great minds" aren't also on Twitter or writing shorter form articles. The quality is there too, it just might take a little extra effort to find it.
- j7ake 7y agoOne solution is to read books that have survived the test of time (e.g., Descartes).
- excursionist 7y agoThe problem is many many books survived the test of time and a lot of such non-fiction books are outdated/incorrect by modern standards.
- j7ake 7y agoI’ve found that the classic fiction books have revealed more fundamental truths than modern non fiction books. Even scientific books that are out of date have deep insights into nature for example the origin of species, what is life?, and origin and history of conscientious.
- mntmoss 7y agoAlso my sentiment. Good fictional storytelling describes the corners and in-betweens of human experience; non-fiction typically describes a mix of technical tools(basically trade skills and weaponizable knowledge) and self-promotion(the book was in some fashion written for a career purpose). The exceptions abound, of course, but categorically speaking, you only need some technical knowledge. It's the "how to lead your life" knowledge that is harder to glean, and one most resistant to taking a head-on approach like studying all the philosophers and then ranking their greatness in a spreadsheet.
- arandr0x 7y agoI've got to say this: reading fiction that survived the test of time was like having thousands of substitute parents who were better at raising me than my own.