
The Dangerous Effects of Reading - tate
http://blog.davidtate.org/2011/12/the-dangerous-effects-of-reading/
======
nlawalker
I definitely agree about the "filtering crap from gold" bit. Once you reach a
certain level of skill it can become a hindrance: you develop an extremely low
tolerance for anything that doesn't catch you as interesting within a few
seconds, and you start speed-reading absolutely everything. This is good in
that you aren't wasting time consuming something that's not really useful, but
it's bad in that you end up continuously subjecting yourself to input in this
way. You can spend a whole day processing a million inputs, throwing them all
away and learning nothing, when the alternatives are to spend your time doing
something more fun or productive, or slowing down a bit and maybe actually
getting a tidbit or two out of the first few hundred inputs and leaving the
rest for another time.

A while ago, when I was reading for the purpose of focused learning (technical
books, scouring blogs for information about some framework/API, etc.), I began
the habit of taking copious notes. My notes are very wordy; it's almost like
I'm having a conversation with myself and rephrasing ideas so I can understand
them better. OneNote is my weapon of choice - for me it reduces the "barrier
to entry" of starting notetaking because it's easy write now and organize
later.

Over time, I realized that when I took notes this way, I had a much higher
retention rate and a much greater understanding of what I was reading. So much
so that when I find myself sitting at my desk or on the couch and
"infosnacking," I try to stop and ask myself, "is what I am reading right now
worth taking notes on?" If it is, then I start writing. If it's not, I make
the effort to tear myself away and either do something that's more productive
or something that I really enjoy.

~~~
MaxGabriel
Crap. Right around sentence three I started skimming your post.

Thanks for waking me up

~~~
nlawalker
When I hit submit and saw the length of my post I realized the irony :)

------
paganel
I don't know if it's that dangerous. One of my biggest fears is to be stranded
somewhere and not having anything to read, and I had this fear way before
smart-phones were invented. I can still remember how at 14 I was reading
"Ender's Game" in the middle of nowhere where my grand-mother had sent me to
graze the cows.

From time to time I would just take my eyes out of the book to make sure that
the cows hadn't trespassed our neighbor's property, and then I would quickly
return to reading. To this day I always carry something to read with me, be it
a book, a magazine or something like that.

And regarding the author's remark that his grand-grand-father would be
horrified to learn in what strange circumstances we do read nowadays, I
remember my peasant grand-mother scolding my grand-father for "preferring to
read" instead of doing something more productive like feeding the cows. I
heard a similar argument between my parents when I was little, with my father
being accused of reading too much, and sure enough my (future to be ex)-wife
also reproached me for reading too much.

~~~
platz
"stranded somewhere and not having anything to read". I can associate with
this. Although there has been much written about the function and role of
boredom in modern society. In particular, that while boredom may not be
pleasant, or well understood, it is a different state of mind as opposed to
active engagement and entertainment. And perhaps in the state of mind, certain
thoughts may rise that need such an environment to percolate to the surface.

------
wonnage
Jesus Christ. Can't a guy do anything without a corresponding pseudoscientific
(actually, wholly arbitrary) blog post about "$anything considered harmful"?

The thread through all these stories is an author's dissatisfaction with their
own life. "I found myself reading/working/eating too much. And I didn't like
it. So Everyone Else in the world ought to stop reading/working/eating so
much." Next week it'll be about how too much focus on creation makes one a
narcissist. Or something. There's always something you can point to for making
your life bland and unfulfilling. If you find yourself stuck in that loop,
consider meditation instead of heroically "creating" a pile of unsubstantiated
pontificating.

~~~
omarchowdhury
Meditating would be a very beneficial activity, but the over-active analytical
mind would put it down as 'one of those things that would make me better' and
never actually get around to doing it.

------
dredmorbius
Timeboxing.

If you're going to devote a portion of your life to "consuming" (or, to use a
more elevated term, "researching"), and a term to producing, and you're
finding you're overwhelming yourself with the research phase, timebox it. Set
a limit to how much time, or how much of your day, you're going to expose
yourself to inputs.

Identify the stuff that you've absolutely got to pay attention to: the truck
barreling down the street, the cliff at your feet, bills to pay, eating, time
on the loo. Exercise.

And identify the time you're going to spend being creative and productive.

It doesn't have to be absolutely rigid deadlines, but there should be some
sense of order to it. Some people work better with more structure, some with
less. Find your own method in the madness and stick to it.

Yes, we're in a culture that makes consumption, and productivity dedicated to
the interests of others (often our employers) easier, the norm, and default.
Think of it as yet another system to hack for _your_ interests and goals.

Good filters are good. But the flipside of a strong reject discriminant is
identifying that which _is_ worthy or simply that which you want to spend time
with, and do so. Wiping out the other distractions at this point is very
useful.

------
narrator
Often reading is just distraction. There's often very little actionable
information there. It's just taking your mind off your real problems. It's
basically all entertainment.

I go home and I watch Khan Academy videos now. I read Wikipedia. I read some
Hacker News mainly to distract myself from work. I pretend that it's useful,
and it sometimes is, but sometimes I wonder if I'm engaging in repetitive
naval gazing and somehow getting off on the ubiquitous outrage.

Why do all this reading anyway? To be more fun at parties? To pretend like
we're part of something important when all that lies ahead of us is years of
sitting in a cube and stuck in traffic?

I guess it's all not so bad. Whatever floats your boat. Just realize that it's
mostly entertainment unless you actually DO something with what you've
learned. It's not what you think. It's what you DO that matters.

~~~
bmelton
I'll just set up every straw man and let you tear 'em down, I guess.

Reading isn't always just distraction, in the same way that the internet isn't
and, as you've said, you use the internet for Wikipedia, Khan Academy videos,
etc.

I just bought Ron Paul's "End the Fed" book (it's on sale in hardcover at
Amazon), which I feel will give me a more informed position in politics.
You'll have to pardon my belief that politics matter, and aren't a waste of
time.

The book I'm currently reading is Higbee's "Your Memory : How It Works and How
to Improve It", which I believe will help me extend my mnemonic memory, which
will allow me to remember the things that never stuck with rote memory
(capitals of all the states, periodic table, presidential terms, etc.)

These aren't fiction (well, depends on how you interpret "End the Fed" I
guess), and aren't just a 'distraction', at least in my opinion.

Even if these things ultimately get categorized as 'Entertainment', I don't
know that to be a problem either. The mind needs entertainment, and if trying
to enrich your experiences and imagination is a 'waste of time', then I don't
know what isn't.

What's the end game for watching Khan Academy videos? To know more? To be more
successful? To make more money?

I don't know that any of those motivations (other than the first) is
philosophically any better than reading for entertainment.

~~~
tom_b
The Higbee memory book is fun. I used it to help my kid memorize some things
before kindergarten (spell a complicated last name, sing daddy's phone number,
where I live, etc).

I am planning to refresh my data structures and algorithms background with an
eye on using some of the techniques in this book to memorize them.

~~~
bmelton
I got started with the idea of mnemonics by reading Jonathan Foer's
"Moonwalking with Einstein[1]", which is an exceptionally good read.

============* Potential Spoiler Alert* ===================== It isn't a 'how-
to' book per se, as it mostly tells the story of how the author went from
being a journalist who covered the World Memory Championship tournament and
within a year of training, became the US Memory Champ.

Regardless, it's a really fun read, and Foer is a really good writer. It does
have some 'how-to' moments in it, and the little I've learned has been 100%
effective, but I needed something to deal with more complicated data
structures -- I could easily memorize the periodic table now, in order, but I
don't know how I would store associated data, like atomic weights, symbols,
melting point, boiling point, etc. That's why I got the Higbee book.

Glad to hear an endorsement on it. The one deficiency I have with Moonwalking
is that it doesn't go on to recommend a book or technique that would work. I
debated over a few of the books mentioned in Moonwalking, and ultimately
decided to go with the (not mentioned) Higbee book based on an external
review.

~~~
krupan
Moonwalking actually has a pretty extensive bibliography. In addition to the
memory techniques, the references to Dr. K. Anders Ericsson's work on how to
become an expert at anything was really interesting
([http://www.coachingmanagement.nl/The%20Making%20of%20an%20Ex...](http://www.coachingmanagement.nl/The%20Making%20of%20an%20Expert.pdf),
for example)

~~~
bmelton
Sonofa... I saw the notes and errata at the end, but in skimming through on my
Kindle, looking for references, I must have missed it.

Thanks a ton.

The one book that was in there that I really wanted to get was Pridmore's "How
to be Clever", but it isn't available on the Kindle. :'(

------
richardburton
You are right. Excessive consumption can get in the way of creation. However,
I think consumption can also inform creation.

I have recently made a conscious decision to comment more-often and submit
more links to Hacker News. I want to create, engage, contribute and create
more content. The transition from using HN as a tech RSS reader to actually
engaging more with the community has been a really refreshing one. I do not
feel that time spent writing this comment is time wasted. It is time
contributed and, hopefully sometimes, appreciated.

PS - Upvote for the _why quote alone :)

 _when you don’t create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than
ability. your tastes only narrow & exclude people. so create._

PPS - I enjoyed the effects of reading your post ;)

~~~
shadowfiend
Yeah, honestly, there's a weird dichotomy here. The post mentions things like
reading in the bathroom, or reading on the way to work, or whatever. But
there's nothing inherent in those that doesn't mean you can't also be creating
when you get home. I suppose there is a mention of getting home and just
reading/watching TV/playing games on electronics, but other than that every
other “excessive consumption” example isn't even necessarily in the way of
creating. If your mind is also scanning for ideas while you read, all of those
situations can in fact be _boons_ to creation rather than obstacles.

~~~
flpmor
I agree, is not consuming prevents creating, it's consuming too much takes
time from creating. In that sense, developing a good filter for crap would
allow you to consume faster leaving more time for creating.

A second issue is that it's assuming that if you develop an efficient filter
for incoming crap, that filter will be applied to what you generate. And that
if that filter threshold goes beyond the level of your own ability to create,
all you do is crap and you stop creating. The input filter does not have to be
the same as the output filter.

~~~
richardburton
You express exactly what I was trying to. If you read HN all day and write no
code that is a bad day for creation. If you code as much as you can and
broaden your mind by reading HN in your downtime that is probably a good
balance.

I find HN is a pretty good filter for incoming crap.

------
Splines
_You stagnate at work for fear of everything you do being judged like every
news article or viral video that you view._

I feel like this about blog posts (even sometimes facebook/twitter updates).
Is what I have to say so interesting that I need to share it with others? My
cumulative reading filter usually says no.

------
tlammens
"Side note: how freaking scary would it have been to explain to your great-
great-grandfather that people would carry around computers and look at them
while in the bathroom or driving - he would have been terrified of this
future"

And terrified he should be, I am terrified thinking other people are not
paying attention to the traffic.

------
stcredzero
There is a big difference between musician and non-musician members of the
audience. At this point in our history, there is no reason why a denizen of
the first world can't be a maker or a creative of some sort.

Being a maker or a creative of some substance requires one to study a
particular subject _in depth_. A part of the challenge the Internet creates,
is that it's very easy to get a hugely broad sweep of rather shallow
information. It's just not possible to study the whole range of information in
depth, but we can send deep probes at one, two, or a few points and thus get a
good idea of _how deep the ocean of knowledge really is_.

------
mcantor
In my experience, speed of filtering ("is this thing I'm reading cool enough
to continue reading?") and fear of being filtered ("is this thing I'm creating
cool enough for other people to read?") are 100% orthogonal. They are simply
not related even a tiny bit, which makes this post seem kind of hilariously
inane.

~~~
obtu
For extroverts maybe? I could totally identify with that part of the post and
the _why quote. Impostor syndrome is another example of better-tuned filters
getting in the way.

------
icehawk
_how freaking scary would it have been to explain to your great-great-
grandfather that people would carry around computers and look at them while in
the bathroom or driving - he would have been terrified of this future_

Given that my great-great-grandfather would have been born in the mid-1800s,
explaining it would be _arduous_ , not scary. I'm pretty sure that all of the
other things I'd have to explain to give him proper context on, "people use
their phones in the car and in the bathroom" would probably scare him more.

------
laglad
Purposeful consumption is different than impulse based consumption.
Investigating ideas by reading specific books, articles, and reflecting on the
idea is consumption at its finest IMO.

I'm trying to be more mindful about what I consume, but also more committed to
finishing what I begin consuming. I try to eliminate the meta-think in your
head constantly assessing whether the content is worth my time, instead fully
committing to exploring the idea being espoused, even if its bullshit. Its
much more mindful to dissect the bullshit rather than dismiss it as low
thought.

The link-based architecture of the web contributes heavily to the way we
bounce from idea to idea. I've been thinking about how to de-emphasize the
constantly shifting focus of clicking on a new link to explore an idea (If
you've ever got lost in a quora/wikipedia loop, you understand this
phenomenon). What if we could anchor an origin (say, this HN page about "The
Dangerous Effects of Reading"), and when we explored links from here, we
started a new path on a map showing how deep we were surfing from the original
page. If we return to this page, we start an adjacent path that we can explore
again. At the end of our browsing session, we have an information map showing
how different ideas linked to each other. It might provide a meaningful
perspective to our browsing experience.

~~~
hellotoast
related: [http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/05/chase-your-
reading.htm...](http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/05/chase-your-reading.html)

~~~
laglad
thanks for this. I'll begin each article I read now with a question.

------
seanstickle
More appropriately titled: The Dangerous Effects of Reading Crap. Should be
paired with a companion piece: The Dangerous Effects of Eating Dung.

------
ballstothewalls
I really like this except:

"I need to hear what others think before I form an opinion (If you have ever
read a review of a new gadget before it launches: think about how ridiculous
this activity is)"

While I agree that I read too many product reviews, on larger issues, I need
to read the opinions of people who actually know what they are talking about.
I am so sick and tired of people offering up their opinion on complicated
issues like economics when they have nothing other than a few crappy talk show
hosts to base their opinion on. I wish people would just say, "I don't know
how to fix the deficit or whether my candidate has a good plan, but I did
check this book out on economics and I am reading through it"

~~~
Splines
_If you have ever read a review of a new gadget before it launches: think
about how ridiculous this activity is_

Maybe I'm "too far in the rabbit hole", but exactly what's wrong with this? Is
it a bad thing to be informed before spending my money?

I have been burned by buying things that have reviewed well but I ultimately
found not up to the task, but I'd rather find out something is a dud before
rather than after (e.g., Kindle Fire).

~~~
rmgraham
I think the emphasis was supposed to be on _before it launches_. As in before
it has seen a useful spectrum of usage upon which to base a review.

------
JoeAltmaier
I'd offer my opinion of this piece, but the irony overwhelms me.

~~~
vertr
Over consumption is bad, so produce more things for others to consume?

~~~
mattangriffel
No: read this article that tells you to stop reading so many articles, agree
with this opinion that says you should stop agreeing with everyone's opinion
that you read about, etc.

------
jdminhbg
> Get off the popular train – teach yourself not to judge based on anything
> other than your own view. Stop listening to the mainstream radio or to
> popular music channels. Try college radio.

This will just make things worse! Trust me.

~~~
tricolon
I don't remember the last time I listened to mainstream radio or watched a TV
channel. Can you explain how this makes things worse?

~~~
jdminhbg
I didn't quote anything about TV -- I was pointing out that getting deeper
into music, especially of the indie/college radio variety, is an even bigger
step into the mire of trying to discern quality/buzz/popularity/etc.

~~~
cacciatc
It can be. However, if you find DJs who you really enjoy, then you let them do
all the curating and mire wandering for you. I posted a bit about this and the
difference between college radio and freeform radio:
[http://cacciatc.github.com/other/2011/12/29/get-off-the-
popu...](http://cacciatc.github.com/other/2011/12/29/get-off-the-popular-
train.html)

------
GlennS
As a counterpoint, there is also a danger to writing without reading. Reading
other people's work can stop you from needlessly reinventing what already
exists. It informs your opinions and reminds you to consider things that you
might have otherwise neglected to. It can also act as a reality check and
prevent you from disappearing too far up your own bumhole (when you write
about something, and then write about what you wrote, and iterate until your
whole argument becomes a house of cards).

For balance, I recommend keeping a pen and a paper by you (or a text editor
open) and occasionally pausing your reading to have a scribble whenever
something strikes you as interesting.

Additionally, the thing that you absolutely must take the trouble to read are
other people's comments on what you have written (exceptions allowed for
people who get too many of these comments to make that practical).

------
thewisedude
<Quote> Time in bathroom spent reading on your phone [Side note: how freaking
scary would it have been to explain to your great-great-grandfather that
people would carry around computers and look at them while in the bathroom or
driving - he would have been terrified of this future] </Quote>

Really? Try telling your ancestors that you have bombs that can destroy entire
cities. Or try telling your ancestors[few centuries back] that you could go to
moon today, or that you have the whole world's information in your fingertips,
they might faint in disbelief! My point being, that our ancestors' reaction is
not a reason why we should not be doing something!

But, I do agree with the author that, the availability of tremendous
information is forcing us to judge too quickly, and probably will lead us to
making bad judgements!

------
restreitinho
Reading this (excelent) post made me realize I made three very important
decisions in 2011: 1) start carrying a notebook at all times; 2) stop reading
so much stuff and filter my content sources; 3) start a blog.

The results? I feel more action-oriented, I have more free time, I feel my
thoughts are more organized and I no longer feel the "feed stress" (you know,
when you look at 1000 unread items and your heart starts pumping faster).

Overall, fantastic post, fantastic insights I fully support. Btw, sorry for
the shameless autopromotion, in case you're interested I blog at
<http://restreitinho.com>.

------
tintin
I think the author is expressing that if you (only) let external sources be
the inpiration of who you are, you will lose yourself. That's why it is
important to create (also).

------
balajiviswanath
We are given 2 ears and 2 eyes to read and listen, but given only one mouth to
express ourselves. So, nature herself optimized us for consumption ;-). Also,
when we use the term reading it is usually meant for longer content. But, most
of what people do with smartphones could at best be called juggling or
glancing.

We don't stop creating because we are consuming more. It is other way round.
We are consuming more because we are afraid of creating.

~~~
stcredzero
_We don't stop creating because we are consuming more. It is other way round.
We are consuming more because we are afraid of creating._

I think that is very key. If one can convince a population that they are _not
capable of mastery_ then you can make them feel inferior and keep them as your
subjects. This is why so many royal courts funded and raised up artists and
musicians and claimed the culture they created as theirs. The inverse is also
why so many independence movements have also grown up beside artistic and
intellectual movements.

------
kghose
[http://grammar.about.com/od/advicefromthepros/a/Writers-
On-R...](http://grammar.about.com/od/advicefromthepros/a/Writers-On-
Reading.htm)

The one I knew of initially was from Faulkner (One of my moderately favorite
writers)

"Read everything--trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just
like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read!
You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out."

------
adriano_f
We are of one mind, davidtate!

I posted this today, too: [http://adrianoferrari.com/essays/silence-
compelling-creativi...](http://adrianoferrari.com/essays/silence-compelling-
creativity/)

For those who say that reading can inform creation, I think neither David nor
I would disagree.

It's just that the balance is so weighted on the consumption side that we need
go to the other extreme once in a while to redress the balance.

~~~
theon144
>If you are a programmer, you could write code, but you shouldn’t execute it

I'm not sure I understand - why shouldn't I execute what I wrote? Isn't it
like a musician not listening to what is he playing?

~~~
adriano_f
You are right.

My thinking is that, especially for beginners, it's too easy to get into a
tight write-compile-debug loop without thinking in broader terms about the
problem. It's just an exercise in thinking about the structure of your code.

Also, you can do, or not do, whatever you want :)

------
aangjie
Kind of ironic how he mentions productivity posts 3-8 times, all the while
giving advise to create more(aka productivity improvement)

------
opinali
When I'm drivin' in my car And that man comes on the radio He's tellin' me
more and more About some useless information...

------
commnderkeen08
I'm suprised nobody has mentioned Clay Johnson's new book, "The Information
Diet." Pretty interesting read that goes with everything in this article. Side
effect to overconsumption is increased personalization of information which
makes us more ignornant to new/foreign ideas.

Also, I feel so ashamed listening to podcasts on my way to work now.

~~~
obtu
You probably wouldn't be creating anything on your commute. And podcasts
aren't easily skimmed, they should give you enough headspace for reflection.

------
mattangriffel
The truth is that I don't think most people have it in them to create. The
ones that will actually create new things will know when to stop listening to
other people. The rest of mankind is probably happy just consuming for their
entire lives.

------
jader201
Interesting piece, and for the most part, spot on. A few thoughts as I read
this, though:

 _> I need to use other peoples work to make myself look cool through sharing
them with my friends_

To me, sharing other peoples work is a channel for opening up dialog with my
peers and learning more about them, and sharing more about myself. While I see
that "looking cool" may sometimes be a motive, I think many may share things
to spawn discussion (i.e. HN).

 _> I need to hear what others think before I form an opinion (If you have
ever read a review of a new gadget before it launches: think about how
ridiculous this activity is)_

This one really threw me. Sure, _forming an opinion_ based on reading reviews
before something launches is ridiculous, but if somebody has a gadget that is
soon launching that you may be interested in, it is only part of curiosity
embedded in human nature to read what their experiences of it.

And I definitely go by others' experiences (reviews -- "what they think") of a
product before making a purchase. To me, this is just being responsible with
my money, and time -- and I believe this has paid off for me, and will
probably always do this. I know several that don't do this, and often end up
regretting purchases they make.

Reading others experiences -- not just on products, but in general -- help us
be more educated and can prevent us from making mistakes. The key is to be
able to filter out objective experiences vs. subjective garbage.

 _> Get off the popular train - teach yourself not to judge based on anything
other than your own view._

I find that most people I know either follow pop culture or avoid it -- rarely
have I heard about someone that on one end of the spectrum and decides to move
to the other end.

I believe the real moral of this piece would be: Be open and make a conscious
effort to change your habits.

Most adults are stuck in habits that take years to form, and will likely not
change over night, and it will require ongoing effort. They have to first make
be willing to do this, and make the decision to do this.

 _> Cease input - turn your cellphone off, stop reading every stupid blog post
about productivity, just stop._

Remember that in order for our creations to be beneficial to others (and often
times, that is the purpose of our creations), others must consume our
creations. So I think it's more of a matter of finding the balance between
consumption and creation, vs. altogether ceasing consumption. (I don't think
this point was intended literally, but this thought did cross my mind as I
read that statement.)

------
larve
this is wonderfully ironic.

------
funkah
On the other hand: <http://www.merlinmann.com/better/>

This is my favorite thing Merlin has ever done, and I think about it all the
time. I identify strongly with the following three points.

* identify and destroy small-return bullshit;

* shut off anything that’s noisier than it is useful;

* make brutally fast decisions about what I don’t need to be doing;

I completely disagree that honing your filter (um, to mix metaphors) is a bad
thing. At a time when we have tons of ideas thrown at us constantly every
single day, it is _the essential thing_. Otherwise you're looking at every
stupid god damned cat video thrown your way.

~~~
dasil003
Also on early episodes of Back to Work he talked a lot about oscillating
between time and attention. That is if you stay in your bubble all the time
you won't create very interesting things, but that's not a common problem
these days because distribution and consumption is so easy that the vast
majority of people can go through life without creating anything (which was
not the case when 90% of people were subsistence farmers). Instead you need to
find the balance where you are actually receiving the right amount of input to
do your best work.

I love hearing Merlin talk about this stuff because he is intellectually
honest and communicates in an almost koan-like style. That said, the hard part
is closing the gap between thought and practice. I struggle with it every day.

