forget reading. practice. contemplate. introspect. worth 10k books.
Conversation
Replying to
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CULT INDOCTRINATION POLICE
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RUN YA THUGS
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Reading is awesome and the burden of proof for saying "X is more useful" is the size of Everest.
And more difficult to climb. Books are not good for climbing on.
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I like both positions. I think it's true to say both that I've already read more than I'll ever be able to apply, that applying what I've already read would likely yield greater return than merely reading something new, and that I shouldn't stop looking where I've not yet looked.
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My position - reading has diminishing marginal returns, and given the sheer number of pages I’ve read already it’s rarely the highest ROI activity for me.
However, now it has highly variable returns, and some things are still very much worth reading.
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In order to read a book, it must:
1) be recommended to death by multiple minds I respect
2) be someone’s life’s work AND
3) continue to seem worth reading as I progress through it (I triage ruthlessly)
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If you're following a linear ROI model, then sure. I wouldn't personally, but I don't think it's a bad thing.
The utility or lack thereof of reading is obviously contingent, so...
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I tend to think of it more as slowly weaving threads in a big personal web, in order to catch certain thoughts, ideas, experiences.
In that model, any reading that is fun, engaging reading is also good reading - regardless of merit.
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Well, even with my super strict criteria, I still have 15 books on the go currently and a list that is getting added to faster than I’m shortening it. So I’m not worried I’m not going to read enough - just trying to increase the quality.
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It sounds like an interesting challenge.
I usually do OK playing it by ear and just binning the occasional dud, but I can respect wanting to sharpen it further.