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Good points in the link. The only thing I'd like to point out is that the author starts with the assumption that BOOKS are what we WANT to read. Just because th

Good points in the link. The only thing I'd like to point out is that the author starts with the assumption that BOOKS are what we WANT to read. Just because they've been the norm, does not make them the best method of knowledge transfer. I'd argue that 90% of each book is fluff. Back in the day, Charles Dickens and Co. were getting paid by the page, hence why all the classics are lengthy. Add to that the fact that school essays come with size requirements (a poor way of making people iterate on their thoughts), and we have a system where size is king. We've gotten used to a book being 100 pages or more, but knowledge can be transferred a lot more efficiently. Hacker News is one example of a better method, which really brings us to the following (incomplete) list of more concise writing methods: - Cliff Notes - Pamphlets - Blogs Some people see reading as a leisure activity. I see it purely as a knowledge transfer method, hence I prefer it to be concise and to the point. The only argument I can think of in favor or lengthy books is that by spending more time on the material, it sinks into your head better.

zipdog 16y ago
Agreed, for many books. I'd also add the book digests (especially for Management books), and then diagrams and charts, which can convey so much more. But on top of that, I think the framework/lens you have when you're reading makes a big difference too. Biggest advantage of a Cliff Notes-style is to add an opening paragraph saying: this author was writing in a time of social change X or common belief Y, and most of this book addresses their concerns related to that (many of which were unfounded).. or something. On your last point: I think reading as leisure is a wholly worthwhile pursuit in its own right - tacitly feeling the experience of the world through another perspective - though I'm not sure I'd need to read more than a book a month for this
- heliodor 16y ago
  Absolutely! I completely overlooked it: more diagrams, please! more bulleted lists! more pictures!
- heliodor 16y ago
  It would be great if each book came with a hierarchy of summaries. A 1000-page book would have a 100 page summary, a 10 page summary, a 1 page summary, and a single paragraph summary. Whatever the right factor is: 3, 5, 8, or 10. If you like any given part, you can go down that branch and read the details.
Psyonic 16y ago
In my experience the Cliff Notes distill out all the parts actually worth reading. The talking points tend to be obvious. The devil is in the details

zipdog 16y ago

Agreed, for many books. I'd also add the book digests (especially for Management books), and then diagrams and charts, which can convey so much more. But on top of that, I think the framework/lens you have when you're reading makes a big difference too. Biggest advantage of a Cliff Notes-style is to add an opening paragraph saying: this author was writing in a time of social change X or common belief Y, and most of this book addresses their concerns related to that (many of which were unfounded).. or something. On your last point: I think reading as leisure is a wholly worthwhile pursuit in its own right - tacitly feeling the experience of the world through another perspective - though I'm not sure I'd need to read more than a book a month for this

heliodor 16y ago
Absolutely! I completely overlooked it: more diagrams, please! more bulleted lists! more pictures!
heliodor 16y ago
It would be great if each book came with a hierarchy of summaries. A 1000-page book would have a 100 page summary, a 10 page summary, a 1 page summary, and a single paragraph summary. Whatever the right factor is: 3, 5, 8, or 10. If you like any given part, you can go down that branch and read the details.

Psyonic 16y ago

In my experience the Cliff Notes distill out all the parts actually worth reading. The talking points tend to be obvious. The devil is in the details