The Art of the Good Life #36 : Read less, but twice.

[ I'd really like to thank the regulars of this blog who gave me huge pop in yesterday's course previews so much so that my first class is confirmed. The number of sign-ups have reached a new high, proving once and for all that life as a freelance trainer is possible. 

We only have just one more preview left before the class starts in September. For those who missed yesterday's session, write to me one more time and I will see if I can secure a seat for you. ]

We're back to our regular programming.

Chapter 36 is about how to read books - Rolf Dobelli recommends applying the following heuristic when reading books :

Spend the first 10 minutes scanning the book, going through the table of contents and diving into the introductory chapter. If the book does not meet you expectations, stop reading it. If the book managed to hook you, don't even stop at one reading. Read the best books twice for thorough comprehension.

So apparently, I apply the opposite approach towards reading books.

What I do is to spend a day or two skimping through a book. I will read every chapter semi-seriously and if a chapter bores me, I will read it very quickly with minimal comprehension, skipping to the chapters that interest me the most. So instead of reading a good book twice, I read multiple books lightly within the same genre or field. Themes in personal finance and psychology tend to repeat itself  so after reading 5-8 books within the same field, I will know enough to apply the concepts to my own life or even write a small article on it on this blog.

In some cases, Rolf Dobelli's approach will make more sense. If you are reading legal cases, some judgments may have to be read 6-7 times before you can figure out the ratio decidendi of the case. Otherwise, you'll likely be asking to be hammered if superior asked you about your research.

The field of finance gives you more leeway to explore and make mistakes. You can look at an investment from multiple perspectives and it helps if there is a way to understand more perspectives per unit time regarding a company stock or a new asset class.

So we might be back to that old question - it is better to be a fox or a hedge hog when reading books.

I think we need to adopt the right role based on what information we're trying to pick out from the books we want to read.

As far as legal cases are concerned. My humble opinion is that the best lawyers pick out just a few  arguments to reinforce their case theory but they have to argue it so thoroughly that it cannot be dislodged by opposite counsel. This puts up a strong case that the best cases are run by hedge-hogs.

Investing requires requires an almost fox like mental agility because stocks ultimately are businesses which are subject to the mercy of various stakeholders, political and economic developments.

In spite of our differences, I agree with Rolf that if you are below the age of 30, you just need to read indiscriminately. This is the time to explore and develop the competency to be able to have the confidence to rejecting a book after 10 minutes of skimming. In this sense, Rolf's application of the secretary's problem to reading is the work of a genius.

But being a practical guy, I still think some books are a waste of time and we should never major in minor thing. I think you can skip the poems and use fictional works purely as a form of recreation.

( This is why I mainly read fantasy fiction - might as well well go all right right ?

The main bulk of your readings should still be about practical things and how this reality works.

I think a 4:1 ratio of non-fiction:fiction should be a good place to start.