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We need to _do_ something with it. Reading is not enough, we must apply it somehow. That's why there are exercises in school or uni. That's why some people writ

We need to _do_ something with it. Reading is not enough, we must apply it somehow. That's why there are exercises in school or uni. That's why some people write summaries of books on their blogs. Another idea might be to make youtube videos about the books we read. Just to summarize them in our own words. To do more with the material that just reading. (P.S. It's also the reason why I like and recommend Zed Shaw's "Learn X the hard way" approach. He makes you actually type the whole source code in the book. I actually did as he said and it made me a better programmer.) (P.P.S. Even if we don't read to remember, I think we always still do, just differently. I think Paul Graham said something along these lines: When I read it's like compiling source code. I lose the source code but the compiled machine code is still there, running in my brain.)

benrbray 6y ago
Yeah, that's why I started taking notes. For topics that are important to my work / hobbies I write my own wiki-style summary to synthesize information from all the sources I've read. When I inevitably forget later, I basically have written myself a textbook that explains things in a way that I know I'll understand later. I will also happily try to summarize the info to my partner or whoever will listen. But outside of an academic settings it's really tough to find other people to have those sort of deep discussions with, especially ones who will do their own reading and bring an interesting perspective about the same niche topic.
- dorchadas 6y ago
  I agree with you completely on that last point. I miss having an academic setting precisely because of that reason. I really feel like something was lost when salons and such closed, even though I realize it was mainly an educated leisure class that could frequent them. If you'd be willing to try to generate small discussion groups about books, I'm definitely interested. Might be worth putting out a call here on HN, though who knows how many will stick with it. It helps for me that my interests are all over the place. But sadly, most people just aren't academically bent in that sense.

benrbray 6y ago

Yeah, that's why I started taking notes. For topics that are important to my work / hobbies I write my own wiki-style summary to synthesize information from all the sources I've read. When I inevitably forget later, I basically have written myself a textbook that explains things in a way that I know I'll understand later. I will also happily try to summarize the info to my partner or whoever will listen. But outside of an academic settings it's really tough to find other people to have those sort of deep discussions with, especially ones who will do their own reading and bring an interesting perspective about the same niche topic.

dorchadas 6y ago
I agree with you completely on that last point. I miss having an academic setting precisely because of that reason. I really feel like something was lost when salons and such closed, even though I realize it was mainly an educated leisure class that could frequent them. If you'd be willing to try to generate small discussion groups about books, I'm definitely interested. Might be worth putting out a call here on HN, though who knows how many will stick with it. It helps for me that my interests are all over the place. But sadly, most people just aren't academically bent in that sense.