{"id":489,"date":"2020-08-21T09:36:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T13:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/?p=489"},"modified":"2020-08-21T10:46:09","modified_gmt":"2020-08-21T14:46:09","slug":"is-reading-a-chore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/is-reading-a-chore\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Reading A Chore?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you read, your brain does much more than simply comprehend the words in front of you: It enables you to empathize with people you\u2019ve never met, to engage with ideas that challenge and inspire you, to imagine other worlds.<\/p>Emily Underwood<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The world of literature is unparalleled in its ability to transport us to an imagined dimension. That feeling of anticipation for the next page, with a tinge of bitterness as the book nears its end, is more than just entertainment. It is a cultural statement that enables society to explore its deeper meaning in the context of the vast array of people that make it up. Reading a culture\u2019s literary achievements shines light on an otherwise deep abyss that resides within the collective minds of people, nigh impenetrable with other means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Certainly books and novels are the most obvious examples, but this world of literature is not necessarily limited to them. I think that music, poetry, and even non-fiction news and articles, all belong to such canon. One medium that I am particularly fond of is film. I absolutely love the blend of the technical disciplines and the creative arts. It\u2019s also not a solitary art, but rather requires collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As todays world moves further towards the real of interactive media, fewer and fewer people read<\/em>. I think that this phenomenon is partly because we rarely experience \u201cthe pleasure of immersive reading \u2014 the feeling of losing [ourself] in a book.\u201d We skim and skip, which leads to us forgetting what we\u2019ve read, sometimes only moments later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years I have read a lot of material; and forgotten even more of it. Certainly for the most interesting reads, I can discuss the salient points\u2060, but the minutiae?\u2060 Not really. So is there some redemption; some way to get back the ability to read effectively?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emily Underwood argues that there are \u201cno hacks or shortcuts to reading at this deep level.\u201d It simply comes down to eliminating distractions and actively reading the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Active reading \u2014 taking notes, sketching, and talking with a friend about the text \u2014 can also help forge mental connections between the information you\u2019re taking in and what you already know, increasing your retention.<\/p>Emily Underwood<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A simpler method, when you just want to save an inspirational highlight, is to use a resonance calendar, which I first learned about from Ali Abdaal\u2019s video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I played around with idea of a resonance calendar myself in late 2019. But this was before I started writing frequently. And now, I’ve found that this process\u2060\u2014writing down my thoughts and composing them for others to read\u2060\u2014is actually far more effective way to remember salient points. As I’ve argued in the past, it is the development of ideas and the thoughtfulness that facilitates the act of remembering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past, I might have read something and thought to myself, “Wow, that’s cool!” only to promptly forget it the next day. Now I actually write down my thoughts, distill them into their core idea, and synthesize them on the page. In reality, this blog is now my resonance calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wolf adds: ‘The good reader . . . goes beyond knowledge, goes beyond emotions and perspective-taking, into a realm where the furthest reaches of our thoughts can be generated.’ The ultimate goal of reading shouldn’t just be memorization, but reflection and insight.<\/p>Emily Underwood<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Dossier<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“How to Remember More of What You Read,” by Emily Underwood, January 22, 2020. https:\/\/forge.medium.com\/how-to-remember-more-of-what-you-read-135022bf7668<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“How I remember what I read,” by Ali Abdaal, July 28, 2019. http:\/\/email.aliabdaal.com\/issues\/how-i-remember-what-i-read-190611<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“How I use Notion as a Resonance Calendar,” by Ali Abdaal, October 19, 2019. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lKYBB-Uw1IM<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Atomic Habits,” by James Clear, October 16, 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you read, your brain does much more than simply comprehend the words in front of you: It enables you to empathize with people you\u2019ve never met, to engage with ideas that challenge and inspire you, to imagine other worlds. Emily Underwood The world of literature is unparalleled in its ability to transport us to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":868,"href":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489\/revisions\/868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sahilnawab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}