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Lot of comments are mocking this one, but it has a point. These people make connections in their heads while reading. They don’t just read but gaze away someti

by szundi 4y ago

Lot of comments are mocking this one, but it has a point. These people make connections in their heads while reading. They don’t just read but gaze away sometimes and play games in their heads about these ideas. They vet it. Thinking about them in connection with other stuff just come up in their minds. Notes are to not to forget to follow up something for them mostly. Taking lots of notes are inefficient and diverts you from doing the stuff above. I think.

larve 4y ago
That is the point of the article indeed. Think about the book and come up with your own ideas, then write those down and put them into the context of your other ideas. (I read almost exclusively programming/product/art related non-fiction). I am someone who “thinks while writing”. Taking notes while reading a book (I usually write into the book margins) allows me to clarify what I think the author is saying, start bringing in some of my ideas and juxtapose them, reformulate some important points. It is the opposite of taking away from the book reading experience: it makes it oh so more vivid. This also applies to articles on the web and my twitter stream. Seeing how fallible my memory is, I envy people who can recall what they were thinking even just yesterday when reading a complex piece of literature, let alone retrace the complex arguments I make to myself (and the reified author) when reading.
LegitShady 4y ago
counterpoint - if taking notes by hand, the reading and then rewriting of an idea is far superior in terms of my ability to recall the fact/idea/etc in the long run. Taking notes can be miserable but it improves my recall 100x.
- causality0 4y ago
  Taking notes can be miserable but it improves my recall 100x. Exactly. Taking notes is great if you have a goal in mind, like incorporating ideas into your own writing or quickly grasping a complex system you're learning about. It doesn't make sense to apply to everything you read unless you don't read for pleasure at all.
  - LegitShady 4y ago
    I agree. I definitely don't take notes on everything I read.
- BbzzbB 4y ago
  >if taking notes by hand From what I had found when reading about hand- vs keyboard-written notes on Scholar, it didn't seem to make a difference what method you used w.r.t. studies in the contexts of students and grades or memory (citations needed). If the point is recall, which for me is the main reason I want to take note from reads, intuitively I don't see why the method of writing would make a difference on my recalling process which happens in my head. Keyboard has the advantage that it's easier to organize and keep around, so you have the option to reread your summaries more available.
  - LegitShady 4y ago
    My experience has been the opposite, significantly so, and just because you can't intuit why writing and typing might differ doesn't mean our brains are doing the same things when doing one or the other.

by szundi 4y ago

larve 4y ago

That is the point of the article indeed. Think about the book and come up with your own ideas, then write those down and put them into the context of your other ideas. (I read almost exclusively programming/product/art related non-fiction). I am someone who “thinks while writing”. Taking notes while reading a book (I usually write into the book margins) allows me to clarify what I think the author is saying, start bringing in some of my ideas and juxtapose them, reformulate some important points. It is the opposite of taking away from the book reading experience: it makes it oh so more vivid. This also applies to articles on the web and my twitter stream. Seeing how fallible my memory is, I envy people who can recall what they were thinking even just yesterday when reading a complex piece of literature, let alone retrace the complex arguments I make to myself (and the reified author) when reading.

LegitShady 4y ago

counterpoint - if taking notes by hand, the reading and then rewriting of an idea is far superior in terms of my ability to recall the fact/idea/etc in the long run. Taking notes can be miserable but it improves my recall 100x.

causality0 4y ago
Taking notes can be miserable but it improves my recall 100x. Exactly. Taking notes is great if you have a goal in mind, like incorporating ideas into your own writing or quickly grasping a complex system you're learning about. It doesn't make sense to apply to everything you read unless you don't read for pleasure at all.
- LegitShady 4y ago
  I agree. I definitely don't take notes on everything I read.
BbzzbB 4y ago
>if taking notes by hand From what I had found when reading about hand- vs keyboard-written notes on Scholar, it didn't seem to make a difference what method you used w.r.t. studies in the contexts of students and grades or memory (citations needed). If the point is recall, which for me is the main reason I want to take note from reads, intuitively I don't see why the method of writing would make a difference on my recalling process which happens in my head. Keyboard has the advantage that it's easier to organize and keep around, so you have the option to reread your summaries more available.
- LegitShady 4y ago
  My experience has been the opposite, significantly so, and just because you can't intuit why writing and typing might differ doesn't mean our brains are doing the same things when doing one or the other.