3 ms·

I'll be honest, they sound rude for laughing behind your back, but I really disagree with the notion that you're reading "as much" by reading some reddit articl

by vasco 3y ago

I'll be honest, they sound rude for laughing behind your back, but I really disagree with the notion that you're reading "as much" by reading some reddit articles or docs pages. People who keep up a book per week or month ALSO read those things. I've found many people that don't read have this notion that just going on reddit for an hour a day "is the same thing", but it's nothing like sitting down and properly diving into long form. That being said nobody should feel bad for not doing it. It's like running a marathon, don't say it's the same because you go for a walk with the dog, but nobody should be expected to run one.

kortilla 3y ago
People who “read a book a week” aren’t absorbing anything useful for technical work anyway. When I think about the best (as identified by both myself and widely within the org) engineers I spent the last couple of decades working with, exactly 0 of them went through a book a week. Reading that much means you’re just skipping across some other author’s ideas. The person that reads a single article about some new algorithm or research and spends multiple hours internalizing it, trying it, analyzing it, debating it, etc is gaining far more than the book guzzlers.
- sandspar 3y ago
  Reading a book a week isn't difficult. If you read at a hobbyist reader's comfortable pace then you can finish a medium novel in five to seven hours. Hobbyist readers with full-time jobs who read on the side can read from one to six hours a day. Think of the average person's daily phone screentime.
  - arvinsim 3y ago
    Reading a book a week in a vacuum is easy. Reading a book a week that competes with your responsibilities and other hobbies is a challenge.
    - kaashif 3y ago
      Rather than making absolute statements, let's say that's true if you have a lot of responsibilities and other hobbies. Some friends of mine say they had huge amounts of time to read and do stuff before they had kids, but took it for granted and managed to complain about having no time. Lots of people spend huge amounts of their time on their phones or computers passively browsing, or watching Netflix or whatever. Reducing that time and reading instead is very achievable. This is not true for everyone, others really do still have responsibilities and hobbies that take up too much time to be able to read a book a week. Others read slowly and cannot improve. No advice about free time is one size fits all.
ZephyrBlu 3y ago
What a surprise that you are also a reader of books rather than other content: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7288759-vasco https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7288759-vasco Reading a book is arguably easier than reading technical content or other articles, because they don't tend to be as information dense. I prefer reading things like this: https://commoncog.com/becoming-data-driven-in-business/ https://commoncog.com/becoming-data-driven-in-business/ But someone might like reading documentation for e.g. databases, which is also extremely information dense. I have briefly done this (https://turbopuffer.com/docs https://turbopuffer.com/docs) and read other database content (https://artem.krylysov.com/blog/2023/04/19/how-rocksdb-works/ https://artem.krylysov.com/blog/2023/04/19/how-rocksdb-works...), but it's not my favourite content. Really weird to say "you read X, I read Y. We are not the same" and then follow-up with "oh but it's fine, you don't have to. But I'm X and you're Y". I could replace a few words in your comment and make it about thinking reading books is the same as reading extremely dense technical content. It's a silly argument.
- vasco 3y ago
  Well I wouldn't be defending books if I didn't like them :) I need to keep Goodreads updated though, I've been losing the habit over the last years, because lately none of my choices come from Goodreads recommendations, but I love being able to see all I read. Thanks for the reminder! I don't think it's weird to acknowledge people have different preferences though, I don't like running marathons but I can see how people who run them would appreciate the benefits it brings them in health and discipline! I think there's maturity in acknowledging the things you think are right for you might not be right for everyone, but still be comfortable sharing your preferences in case others see value in them. I don't see it as looking down on others which you seem to imply I'm doing.
  - ZephyrBlu 3y ago
    Comparing a marathon with walking your dog is clearly implying a negative or lesser perception of the "walking your dog" activity. That is not a neutral statement of preference. If you intended for it to be a neutral comparison about preference I would have gone with something like triathlons, sprinting, athletics, etc.
chasd00 3y ago
A book a week is absurd, that’s like binge watching a multi season series each week. You’re wasting your life away.

by vasco 3y ago

kortilla 3y ago

People who “read a book a week” aren’t absorbing anything useful for technical work anyway. When I think about the best (as identified by both myself and widely within the org) engineers I spent the last couple of decades working with, exactly 0 of them went through a book a week. Reading that much means you’re just skipping across some other author’s ideas. The person that reads a single article about some new algorithm or research and spends multiple hours internalizing it, trying it, analyzing it, debating it, etc is gaining far more than the book guzzlers.

sandspar 3y ago
Reading a book a week isn't difficult. If you read at a hobbyist reader's comfortable pace then you can finish a medium novel in five to seven hours. Hobbyist readers with full-time jobs who read on the side can read from one to six hours a day. Think of the average person's daily phone screentime.
- arvinsim 3y ago
  Reading a book a week in a vacuum is easy. Reading a book a week that competes with your responsibilities and other hobbies is a challenge.
  - kaashif 3y ago
    Rather than making absolute statements, let's say that's true if you have a lot of responsibilities and other hobbies. Some friends of mine say they had huge amounts of time to read and do stuff before they had kids, but took it for granted and managed to complain about having no time. Lots of people spend huge amounts of their time on their phones or computers passively browsing, or watching Netflix or whatever. Reducing that time and reading instead is very achievable. This is not true for everyone, others really do still have responsibilities and hobbies that take up too much time to be able to read a book a week. Others read slowly and cannot improve. No advice about free time is one size fits all.

ZephyrBlu 3y ago

What a surprise that you are also a reader of books rather than other content: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7288759-vasco https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7288759-vasco Reading a book is arguably easier than reading technical content or other articles, because they don't tend to be as information dense. I prefer reading things like this: https://commoncog.com/becoming-data-driven-in-business/ https://commoncog.com/becoming-data-driven-in-business/ But someone might like reading documentation for e.g. databases, which is also extremely information dense. I have briefly done this (https://turbopuffer.com/docs https://turbopuffer.com/docs) and read other database content (https://artem.krylysov.com/blog/2023/04/19/how-rocksdb-works/ https://artem.krylysov.com/blog/2023/04/19/how-rocksdb-works...), but it's not my favourite content. Really weird to say "you read X, I read Y. We are not the same" and then follow-up with "oh but it's fine, you don't have to. But I'm X and you're Y". I could replace a few words in your comment and make it about thinking reading books is the same as reading extremely dense technical content. It's a silly argument.

vasco 3y ago
Well I wouldn't be defending books if I didn't like them :) I need to keep Goodreads updated though, I've been losing the habit over the last years, because lately none of my choices come from Goodreads recommendations, but I love being able to see all I read. Thanks for the reminder! I don't think it's weird to acknowledge people have different preferences though, I don't like running marathons but I can see how people who run them would appreciate the benefits it brings them in health and discipline! I think there's maturity in acknowledging the things you think are right for you might not be right for everyone, but still be comfortable sharing your preferences in case others see value in them. I don't see it as looking down on others which you seem to imply I'm doing.
- ZephyrBlu 3y ago
  Comparing a marathon with walking your dog is clearly implying a negative or lesser perception of the "walking your dog" activity. That is not a neutral statement of preference. If you intended for it to be a neutral comparison about preference I would have gone with something like triathlons, sprinting, athletics, etc.

chasd00 3y ago

A book a week is absurd, that’s like binge watching a multi season series each week. You’re wasting your life away.