What is the best way to read difficult books: 4 levels of reading In How To Read A Book, Adler and van Doren discuss the four levels of reading: elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical. Your mind can grow or atrophy depending on what you do with it. So read books that stretch you. If you … Read more
We only pay attention to a small slice of the world around us. That slice is determined by your brain, which learns over time and can change which bits to filter out. Gallagher’s Rapt shows that what you consciously attend to determines how this sorting happens, with manifold effects
Deep work involves a close focus on one task or set of tasks, and the exclusion of irrelevant stimuli. Think of a blacksmith hammering a sword, or a coder resolving a complex issue. The world barely exists. You do your best work, build skills that enhance your quality of life, and give yourself meaning. Sounds good, right?
In How to Take Smart Notes, Sönke Ahrens sketches out a structure for academics and non-fiction writers to work within. Following their advice would develop both an environment for thinking and the habits and routines to make it happen.
It’s useful to imagine that we have two distinct systems in our brains. One models the world, trying to predict and save us the energy of needing Two. In the process, it feeds errors to our conscious attention.
Most of our world is a wicked learning environment, full of irregularities and patterns that worked for a while until they catastrophically don’t. In Range, David Epstein discusses how keeping a broader purview on what you do will help prepare you for a future of success.
Short Summary: There’s more data around us than ever before; we feel overloaded. The volume might be new, but the feeling and our responses are not. Ann Blair, in Too Much To Know, shows us how people dealt with the deluge of information in 16th and 17th century Europe– and the parallels with today are … Read more
Three lessons from Charles Duhigg’s Power of Habit. Habits involve a cue, routine and reward. They let the brain run through a routine without effort – and that can be simple or complex; healthy or unhealthy. Brushing your teeth or pathological gambling. Once a habit is established the spike in brain activity happens before the … Read more
Livewired, by David Eagleman, likens the neurons in our brains to countries competing for territory. Every time you learn or feel or move or hear, your brain physically changes. 3 lessons: Our neocortex is pluripotent. Blind people recognize tactile motion in their occipital lobes (where you ‘see’). Put on a blindfold, you start to do … Read more
Most self-improvement habits are masks; they let you be productive while hiding (and often reinforcing) a deeper problem. Instead, look for places you can make short term but persistent interventions. Fix the problems, then live your life without a schedule. Each problem you fix will compound on top of the rest and transform your life … Read more