Whoops, I did it again. I write about deep reading daily and why we should work hard to slow down and learn from our books. But that doesn’t mean I always get it right. In the words of the great William Zinsser in his book, On Writing Well, “You are writing primarily to please yourself, and if you go about it with enjoyment you will also entertain the readers who are worth writing for” (24).
I go to my computer and write about this stuff because I want to be a better reader. I’m researching and writing for myself. If you find any value in it, that’s great! We could and should be friends. But let’s get back to selfish little me for a moment. I constantly screw this up. See the next paragraph for an example.
Yesterday, I was listening to a podcast interview with Steven Pinker. He talked about why intelligent people are often more susceptible to conspiracy theories. That got me thinking about Cal Newport’s article on concentration for The New Yorker. Don’t ask me how I made that intellectual leap, but I did. My feats of distraction are often spectacular. So I went to the article and started reading —> while the damn podcast with Pinker was still playing in my ear. Ten minutes into reading the article, I laughed. At that point, I wasn’t learning anything from Pinker or Newport. I wasn’t reading slowly, taking notes, or applying the ideas. Even worse, I was consuming two pieces of content simultaneously.
I’m not perfect. I write about this stuff because I want to improve. I hope you feel the same about yourself. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you get distracted, mess up, or bungle your next reading session. It’s easy to take perfection too seriously. Ditch the squeaky clean and embrace the beautiful work in progress that is YOU.
Until tomorrow, read slowly – take notes – apply the ideas.
-Eddy
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Works Cited:
Steven Pinker: Why Smart People Believe Stupid Things – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/. Accessed 19 June 2024
How I Learned to Concentrate | The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/office-space/how-i-learned-to-concentrate. Accessed 19 June 2024.
Zinsser, William. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. Reissued, Harper Perennial, 2016.
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