If you’re reading this, chances are good that you already know how to read. In fact, it’s quite likely that you can read well enough; well enough to check your email, to read projects at work, even to curl up in bed with a good novel when you get home.
The True Value of Reading
But is reading well enough really good enough? Reading has the power to improve your mind. It can help you think better, reason better, work better, play better. But not all reading will do that. The latest Wal-Mart thriller, for example, won’t do that. Nor will much of the fluff being published today.
Reading for Improvement vs. Entertainment
So what does this mean for you? “Only read boring books from six centuries ago?” Not at all! The key is to differentiate between reading for entertainment (which is much better for your brain than, say, watching television for entertainment) and reading for improvement.
Choosing Challenging Material
When you read for improvement, you want to choose a book that has some meat to it. Ideally, you want a book that you don’t understand. Don’t worry if that sounds strange; bear with me a moment. Reading for improvement is all about taking a book you don’t understand, and reading it in such a way that you begin to understand it. That’s where the improvement comes in. With that end in mind, older books are likely to be more of a challenge to read and understand. And challenge is good; challenge is what we’re going for.
Strategies for Effective Reading
So how does one go about reading books you don’t understand in such a way that you understand them? There are two answers to that question. The first is to keep a notepad and pencil handy when reading for improvement; the second is to ask questions about the book and be sure you can answer them.
The Role of Writing in Comprehension
First, the paper and pencil. When you write, often the very act of putting thoughts onto paper clarifies them for you. Writing down questions as you think of them solidifies them in your mind, and sometimes just the act of writing them down in question form can help you find the answers. Always keep your pad and pencil handy, and every few paragraphs, write out briefly in your own words what you think the author is talking about. This will feel funny at first, but the more often you do it, the more natural it becomes.
Questioning for Understanding
Second, the questions. What questions should you ask? Where do you find the answers? The most basic question you want to ask will be “What is this author talking about?” Remember, you’ve chosen a book that you don’t understand—one that is over your head—and you want to understand it through reading it. Just knowing what questions to ask can be a huge help here.
Delving into Descartes
For example, let’s take a brief passage from Rene Descartes‘ book “Discourse on Method.” [The passage and subsequent analysis would follow.]
Conclusion: The Reward of Reading
Finally, in closing, you may be wondering, “Why take so much time on one passage? It will take me forever to read the book at that rate!” The first book will take a long time. If you don’t have much time to devote to reading just to improve your mind, it might take months or even a couple of years. That’s okay. It’s not a speed trial; you’re not reading the book so you can say “Oh, I’ve read it.” You’re reading it, in this way, because you want to improve your mind. Suppose reading one passage of this size over the course of a week improves your mind, and skimming over it in two minutes doesn’t. Which is better?
If you only want to be able to say “I’ve read it,” then by all means, just skim it. But if you want to read it because you believe it will improve your mind, deepen your focus, and make it easier for you to reason through difficult problems, whether at home or in the workplace, then it doesn’t matter if it takes you a week or a year to read the book. The profit isn’t in the destination; it’s in the journey.
Happy reading.
* Discourse on Method, by Rene Descartes. Copied from Gutenberg.org; used with permission.
