Why books don’t work
Metadata
- Author: andymatuschak.org
- Title: Why books don’t work
- Category:article
Page Notes
Highlights
- But just as often, as I grasp about, I’ll realize I had never really understood the idea in question, though I’d certainly thought I understood when I read the book.—Updated on 2024-02-19 09:52:49—Group:Public
- Annotation: This is a big reason why I tend to make notes directly after reading a chapter of even sub-section. I used to (as I had seen it recommended) simply note that there was something interesting, but that strategy ended up with an accumulation of pointers to things I should have understood by now but didn’t. As Mr. Matuschak points out, books build on concepts introduced just a few pages ago.
- All this suggests a peculiar conclusion: as a medium, books are surprisingly bad at conveying knowledge, and readers mostly don’t realize it.—Updated on 2024-02-19 10:00:47—Group:Public
- Annotation: Understanding and making insights (composition) is an internal process. Only through internal effort can external knowledge be brought in. Merely reading and expecting insight is fatal.
- It’s just that lectures, as a format, are shaped as if that were true, so lecturers mostly behave as if it were true.—Updated on 2024-02-19 10:44:18—Group:Public
- Annotation: Most of my college level lecture experiences are not so much about learning, but about presenting knowledge to aid existing knowledge learned from assigned reading. I find lecture recordings great, as I can get confused, take a break, do some of my own research, and then get the over-arching picture from an expert.
In person, a lecture is about giving an extra organization to a domain, showing how concepts that you already know about connect together. #to-process
- But just as often, as I grasp about, I’ll realize I had never really understood the idea in question, though I’d certainly thought I understood when I read the book. — Updated on 2024-02-19 09:52:49
- This is a big reason why I tend to make notes directly after reading a chapter of even sub-section. I used to (as I had seen it recommended) simply note that there was something interesting, but that strategy ended up with an accumulation of pointers to things I should have understood by now but didn’t. As Mr. Matuschak points out, books build on concepts introduced just a few pages ago.
- All this suggests a peculiar conclusion: as a medium, books are surprisingly bad at conveying knowledge, and readers mostly don’t realize it. — Updated on 2024-02-19 10:00:47
- Understanding and making insights (composition) is an internal process. Only through internal effort can external knowledge be brought in. Merely reading and expecting insight is fatal.
- It’s just that lectures, as a format, are shaped as if that were true, so lecturers mostly behave as if it were true. — Updated on 2024-02-19 10:44:18
- Most of my college level lecture experiences are not so much about learning, but about presenting knowledge to aid existing knowledge learned from assigned reading. I find lecture recordings great, as I can get confused, take a break, do some of my own research, and then get the over-arching picture from an expert. In person, a lecture is about giving an extra organization to a domain, showing how concepts that you already know about connect together.