A family trip to the Masaii Mara in Kenya

TLDR : Drop books. Skim read. Jump around. Follow your curiosity. Read blogs. Read Garbage. Just make sure you learn

I want to articulate my thoughts on reading.

I’m an addict. Every time I enter a bookstore, I tend to leave with at least 3 different books. I tend to get through 1/3rd of them, and the other two sit on my bookshelf.

Now people might think this is irrational and a waste. But it’s what Taleb describes as an anti library. All of the books that you haven’t read - reminding you of how little you know. It’s a tactic for intellectual humility. It keeps you curious, and also acts as a repository of wisdom and advice you can access in the future.

It also makes you read a lot more.

I’ve noticed, mostly over the last few weeks, that I was reading less and less. The default tendency seemed to be turn on the TV.

I have nothing against television. But they are just not the same. Reading a book requires active effort, a test of your imagination. It’s much faster than watching. It feels more intimate and personal. Let’s explore why it’s important

Why Reading is Important and Why we are reading less

1. Cultivates focus

We are losing our ability to focus in the modern day attention economy. Moving from 240 character messages, to 10 second Tik Tok videos, the pace of media consumption is accelerating. Our attention span is being fractured. Most people can barely now even go through a movie without spending some time glancing down at their phone. I think its deeply implicitly damaging, and will have pernicious consequences in the years to come. I can already think of one example : our politics

We’ve moved from a politics of attention and focus, to a politics of popularity. In the past, debates used to go on for hours, with people watching in rapt attention. But the current political climate is more of a popularity and chest beating contest : who can garner the most eyeballs. This leads to ‘media’ personality types being in the limelight. Less attention to prominent figures in science and art.

Reading is a pushback. A sub-sect of humanity is fighting this ‘race to the bottom of the brainstem’. Moving towards slower activities, and curated use of technology. Reading is one of these.

2. Active Effort Reading tests the imagination.

hallucinating whilst staring at a piece of dead tree

It involves converting symbols on a page, into visual and auditory thought - weaving a coherent narrative in your mind. This is a skill. The more you read, the more you practice this.

The fact is, all of the smartest people I know : read. They have trained the ability to focus singlehandedly on a topic. This allows them to focus on other aspects of their life when they wish : often reaching the upper echelons of their chosen field. To become a top physicist, it requires years and years of focused attention. Reading is a way to hone this ability

3. Empathy

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one – George R.R. Martin

Reading allows you to step in the shoes of another. It secretly allows you to cheat death. To live through multiple lives in the short span on one life. You develop relationships, you identify with disparate characters who you seemingly have nothing in common with : you see yourself in humanity. I’ve become an old man, to a teenage girl to a non human entity, yet found aspects of myself in each. A transcendent overarching unity. You realise that humans are largely the same and we often have the same needs and desires : to love and be loved, to form friendships, to struggle through hardship and to change for the better. We’re all on our own heroes journey, and reading allows you to walk multiple paths.

How can we read more

1. Read every day

Imagine you chart out your life in weekly blocks. The blog [Wait but Why] has done this:

If you’re only reading 1 book a year. And you’re 25. Suppose you live another 50 years. That’s another 50 books…

50 books left in your entire life you can read.

Now suppose you read : just 50 pages a day. 50*365 = 18,250. *That’s roughly 40 books assuming 400-500 pages.

40 x 50 = 2000 books left in your life

So by reading just 50 pages a day : you can read 2000 vs 50 books in your life…

2. Drop books you don’t connect with

Stop reading if you’re not enjoying it. Simple. Famous rule of 100-Age : is the number of pages you should read before deciding to drop it.

3. Buy more books Create your anti-library.

4. Reflect, Discussion and Take Notes

After you finish reading a book, write down what you’ve learnt. Write down any beautiful use of prose. Discuss with a friend. You will inevitably forget the book, but some aspect tends to be carried over to lived experience. .

5. Write

I’m very irregular at writing. It’s probably what differentiates an amateur from a pro. Pro’s write every day regardless of mood, weather, situation, time or place. They just sitand do the work.

Writing does make you appreciate how difficult it is to craft a story. It’s a real skill.

Conclusion

There aren’t any rules

I just made them up. What is important is to find out what helps you read more.

Read more, but not for the altar of ‘pseudointellectualism’. Read to apply to your life. Knowledge is insufficient. Why be a student of books, when you can be a student of life?

Constantly seek to understand yourself : books being one medium to absorb science, philosophy and art. But the real test is in the lived experience.

Recently read called : The Revenge of Analog : Real things and Why They Matter. Inspired to write about the topic.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the resurgence of analog technologies : Vinyl, books, magazines, paper journals/notebooks etc. This is accompanied by a rise in ‘physical hobbies’ : woodworking, film cameras and crafts. Similarly with spiritual activities : Yoga, meditation etc.

Why now? I want to explore a few reasons why this is the case.

Romanticism

It’s sexy. Owning books, vinyl. Taking film photographs. Writing in fountain pen (I have a fountain pen addiction).

Let’s take the example of books. I have more books than I can fit on my kindle. But lately I’ve found myself coming back to physical paper books. Why?

Nostalgia is the main reason I suspect. I would often spend the lunchtime in the library with my nose deep in either a young adult fiction or whatever interested me at the time (science, philosophy etc). During my one hour bus journey back home, I would find an empty part of the bus and enter the world of Sherlock Holmes or Harry Potter. It was like crack cocaine for the mind. I would often stop reading only to start thinking deeply about the characters I read about; Their flaws, strengths and idiosyncrasies that made them so captivating and inspiring. I would use that as a basis to try and understand the world. I would try and embody the virtues that I read about. To be kind, honest, witty, charming, intelligent, brave, hard working, there were no shortage of adjectives. This was all in the paper form. No distractions. No facebook. No twitter.

Similar sentiments are found in people who listen to vinyl, do film photography and those who write by hand. It’s romantic. A throwback to ‘simpler times’.

The World is moving faster

Many people want to go back to ‘simpler times’, at least ideologically. Technology however favours constant motion and innovation. There is no time to stop and reflect. Atleast that seems to be the zeitgeist of this era. “Move fast and break things”. Analog technologies on the other hand, bring a slower meditative feel to life. The process is more important than the outcome.

We live in the ‘attention economy’. Large corporations are vying for attention with supercomputers pointed at your brain with Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram etc. They are all ‘free’ services in the sense that you are the product. They are trying to maximise time on site so that they can sell more ads and they are specifically designed to be addictive. Attention manipulation machines. See Tristan Harris’s work.

Therefore attention has become scarce. A resource to be valued and used sparingly and analog technologies are all about single pointed attention. Losing yourself in an activity. Surprisingly, they also seem to be more effective in terms of retention.

Studies show that there is poorer comprehension when reading on screens vs paper. I can relate to this. When reading digitally, I tend to read less deeply. I skim, summarise, skip to the TLDR. In doing this, I miss the context.

Reading on paper promotes active reading, making marginalia and notes in the sidelines. For example I recently read a book about Evolution and Natural selection : The Ape that Understood the Universe. Instead of just reading, at the end of chapters I would try explain the concepts in my own words : kin selection, reciprocal altruism, sexual selection etc. These are fundamental concepts I understand at a deeper levels all thanks to reading ‘on a physical book’ and taking notes.

Similarly with writing by hand. Studies show that students who write by hand retain more than those who type. Anecdotally I agree. The exams I have done the ‘best’ in have been when writing physically in a notebook. (N=1 ) A point to keep in mind when moving forward.

Digital Burnout

I love technology. I am a real nerd. My childhood was basically video games, computers and science. But the computer didn’t follow me 24/7.

Now it’s become so much more. A black rectangle has become an access point for limitless consumption of media. You can consume mental junk food. You can check your ‘social life’ at the click of button. You can look at others (heavily curated) digital lives. It’s become a race to the bottom of the brain stem. Click bait, attention seeking and novel stimuli over thoughtful delayed gratification.

Society is fundamentally being changed by these forces. One question I think about is :

Is social media uncovering tendencies that were already there e.g. outrage, self absorption etc

Or

Is social media the cause of these new behaviours

I don’t have an answer. But what I do advocate is slowing down. Switching off your phone. Talking face to face. Getting together without being beholden to a screen. Maybe its time we prioritise human well-being and flourishing over efficiency. This is at the root of the return to digital I think. The desire to unplug, unwind and slow down.