how to read a book by Mortimer Adler summary

December 27, 2021

Why?

reading/learning can be a “priceless opportunity to furnish your mind and enrich the quality of your life”
read/learn for better understanding of others and myself
read/learn to make fewer mistakes.
read/learn to increase knowledge
read/learn to find meaning
read/learn improves vocabulary, focus, memory and imagination
Odds are that no matter what you’re working on, someone somewhere, who is smarter than you, has probably thought about your problem and put it into a book.
there are few things that hold us back and rob us our productivity, prosperity, positivity and peace of mind and reduce our capacity to think, focus, learn, grow, and be fully human
- drowning in data and rapid change, we long for strategies and tools to regain some semblance of productivity, performance, and peace of mind
- the fleeting ping of digital dopamine pleasure replaces our ability to sustain the attention necessary for deep relationships, deep learning or deep work
- overuse of digital technology results in the breakdown of cognitive abilities. Short-term memory pathways will start to deteriorate from underuse if we overuse technology.
- we’re letting technology do much of our critical thinking and reasoning for us.

How we learn to read

Before you read a nonfiction book, it’s important to do a picture walk of a chapter. Look at:
- Pictures, diagrams, and any images.
- Bold and italicized words.
- Section headings
- Summaries.
- Questions at the end of the chapter.
- Doing a picture walk of a chapter before you read it gives you the helicopter view of what the chapter is about. When I train leaders, I advise them to preview the entire book before they read. The focus is not on one chapter at a time, but on the entire book. In the book, you’re advised to zone out to solve a problem. This is consistent with the information on problem-solving and creativity models
there’s a difference between reading for understanding and reading for information
- lots of people confuse knowing the name of something with understanding. While great for exercising your memory, regurgitating facts without solid understanding and context gains you little in the real world.
- anything easily digested is reading for information.
work required to have an opinion
if you’re a knowledge worker, you’re paid to use your brain, so it’s in your best interest to make that brain as efficient as possible.
The number of pages you read is not as important as the fact you’re enjoying it.
review the notes and highlight them often with post-reading apps such as readwise.io
skim a lot of books and read a few. Immediately re-read the best ones twice
- when you lose interest, give it five more pages. Then skim the next chapter. If you’re still not interested, put it down. It’s the author’s job to keep your attention
- marking a book is indispensable to reading it
  - keep you awake, not merely conscious, but wide awake
  If it is active, reading is thinking and tends to express itself in words, spoken or written.
  - writing your reactions down helps you to remember the thoughts of the author
  - an expression of your differences or your agreements with the author. It is the highest respect you can pay him.
Pomodoro method
- optimal time for a task is 25 minutes, followed by a 5-minute break. Each 25-minute chunk is called a “Pomodoro.”
skip liberally: skip anything that doesn’t interest you.
- skip, but do so intelligently
  - return to it later and ask yourself, “why did I skip this?” Did it offend you? Seem beneath you? Seem too difficult? And did you arrive at that by thinking it through, or is it a reflection of biases inherited from your parents and others? Very often, “our” beliefs are not our own
  - This practice is how you create yourself instead of discovering yourself.
find your 100 favorites books and keep re-reading them

Finding more time to read

find time to read boils down to choices about how you allocate your time.
reading isn’t something to be done once a week to check a box; it’s something to do every day.
What gets in the way of reading?
- avoid time commuting
- avoid time shopping
- avoid watching TV
- combine reading with idle activities, waiting for a bus, waiting for a taxi, on the train, on the plane, waiting for your flight.
- what I read depends on the situation
  - if there are few minutes, read something simple, rather disposable, and easily digested.
  - early in the evening, around 8-9, read something without interruption
  - before going to bed, read something light or something requiring more thought so I can ponder an idea while I’m falling asleep.
  - when I’m not reading, I’m trying to think about what I have just read (like waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store)

4 levels of reading

Elementary reading

level of reading taught in our elementary schools

Inspectional reading

skimming and superficial reading can be used effectively to increase understanding
inspectional reading allows us to look at the author’s blueprint and evaluate the merits of a deeper reading experience.
2 sub-types of inspectional reading
- systematic skimming
  - a quick check of the book by
    - reading preface
    - studying the table of contents
    - checking the index
    - reading inside the jacket
  - give you sufficient knowledge to understand the chapters in the book, pivotal to the author’s argument.
  - skimming helps you reach a decision point: Does this book deserve more of my time and attention? If not, you put it down.
- superficial reading
  - just read, don’t ponder the argument, don’t look things up, and don’t write in the margins.
  - if you don’t understand something, move on.
  - now that you understand the book’s contents and structure better, do you want to understand it?

Analytical reading

use marginalia to converse with the author
- the broken fragments of thought that appear scribbled in the margins of books.
- these fragments help us connect ideas, translate the jargon, and spur critical thinking.
4 rules to analytical reading
- classify the book according to kind and subject matter
- state what the whole book is about with the utmost brevity
- enumerate its major parts in their order and relation, and outline these parts as you have outlined the whole
- define the problem or problems the author is trying to solve.
  - in other words, you should be able to state the main question that the book tries to answer, and you should be able to state the subordinate questions if the main question is complex and has many parts.
after an inspectional read, you will understand the book and the author’s views.
theoretical books teach you that something is the case. Practical books teach you how to do something you want to do or think you should do.

Syntopical reading

involves reading many books on the same subject and comparing and contrasting ideas, vocabulary, and arguments.
identifying relevant passages, translating the terminology, framing and ordering the questions that need answering, defining the issues, and conversing with the responses.
understand the subject and develop deep fluency
identifying and filling in your knowledge gaps.
5 steps to syntopical reading
- finding the relevant passages
  - find the right books and then the passages that are most relevant to filling your needs
- bringing the author to terms
  - identify the keywords and how the author uses them. Each author has probably used different terms and concepts to frame their argument.
  - this is an exercise in translation and synthesis.
- Getting the questions clear
  - focus on the questions that you want to answer.
  - it’s important to frame the questions so that all or most authors can be interpreted as providing answers.
- defining the issues
  - ask a clear question to which there are multiple answers.
  - translated into your terms, must be ordered to one another.
  - understanding multiple perspectives on an issue helps you form an intelligent opinion.
- analyzing discussion
  - it’s presumptuous to expect we will find a single unchallenged truth to any of our questions.
  - our answer is the conflict of opposing answers.
  - the value is the discussion you have with these authors.
  - you can now have an informed opinion

4 Questions must ask about any book

what is the book as a whole?

you must try to discover the leading theme of the book and how the author develops her theme in an orderly way by subdividing it into its essential subordinate themes or topics

what is being said in detail and how

you must try to discover the main ideas, assertions and arguments that constitute the author’s particular message

is the book true, in whole or part?

you cannot answer this question until you have answered the first two. You have to know what is being said before you can decide whether it is true or not. When you understand a book, however, you’re obligated to make up your mind if you are reading seriously. Knowing the author’s mind is not enough.

what of it?

if the book has given you information, you must ask about its significance. Why does the author think it is important to know these things?
Is it important to you to know them? And if the book has informed not only you but also enlightened you, it is necessary to seek further enlightenment by asking.

Note taking

listen with intent. Write notes in a way you can understand later
TIP
- T - Think about what you’re hoping to retain most from this session
- I - identify what is most important in the context of your goal
- P - prioritize the information that is most valuable for you.
use your own words whenever possible
handwriting triumphs over typing because writing by hand requires you to exert more effort and process information immediately
use capture and create. Fold the paper into two columns. On the left side, write down what you’re capturing. On the right, write your impression of potential applications, i.e., the areas you can apply this.

audio journal

need to do more research on this

Blank sheet

Before reading a new book, take a blank sheet of paper. Write down what you know about the subject you’re about to read - a mind map if you will
after you’re done a reading session, spend a few minutes adding to the map (I use a different colour ink)
before you start your next reading session, review the mind map(I use mine as a bookmark sometimes)
put these mind maps in a binder and periodically review them.
the blank sheet primes your brain for what you’re about to read and shows you what you’re learning

conventional notes

you bought this thing, it’s your property, you need to write in the margins
at the end of each chapter, write a few bullet points that summarize the main idea or specific points. Use your own words and not the author’s. Connect it to something in your life - a memory or another idea. Also, make note of any unanswered questions you had while reading.
when you’re done with the book, put it down for a week
pick up the book again and go through all your notes. In many cases, reading your notes will be as good as reading the book again.
writing is the process by which we often discover we don’t know what we’re talking about.

Speed reading

the 4,3,2,1 method

10 minutes of exercise
set the timer for 4 minutes and open an easy-to-read book.
start reading at a comfortable pace while using your finger to underline the words as you read them.
when 4 minutes expire, mark the point at which you stopped
go back to where you started and set a timer for 3 minutes, then 2 minutes, then 1 minute. Try to get to the same point you reached after 4 minutes.

Problems

avoid regression, where your eyes tend to go back and re-read certain words in a sentence.
- use a pacer because attention follows the movement. Using your finger to guide your reading prevents your attention from jumping around the text.
- use your finger as a pacer when reading a physical book or the phone
- use the mouse as a pacer when reading content on a computer
avoid subvocalization: saying words to yourself in your head as you read.
- when you start reading, count 1, 2, 3, 4. This process will free your mind of the inner narrator.
- it will train your mind to see words on the page like images. Turn what you’re reading into a motion picture experience.
avoid word-by-word reading
- observe chunks of words at a single glance.
- practice expanding your vision to see groups of words, i.e., images for groups of words

that we try to understand

3 Steps to Powerful Reading

Picture walk: This is previewing a chapter before you read it to get a lay of the land.
Read with care.
Active recall.
Active Recall
- This is where you pull key ideas from your mind. Take a couple of minutes to recall the information you’re trying to learn. This is one way you can move something from short-term memory into long-term memory. And even recalling the information in different physical environments can help your brain grasp it better.
Illusions of Competence
- The best way to learn is to recall.
- Reduce the number of highlights. Try to understand the main idea first and then highlight. Highlighting or underlining can also lead to this illusion of learning.
- Notes and helpful words are great. Tests yourself.
- You can master a new subject by interleaving (jumping between different problems/situations, using different tools/strategies)problems/situations, use different techniques/strategies)
Sleep
- Getting enough sleep is important to learning. Sleep:
  - Cleans toxic products in your brain.
  - Erases the less important parts of memories.
  - Strengthens areas you need or want to remember.
- Concentrate intently during the day when learning. The brain changes when you learn. Practice what you learn, so you do not forget. Space your practice to remember longer.
- Neurons are throughout your body and not just your brain. When you learn something new, practice and get enough sleep. You grow new dendritic spines and synaptic links. The more you do this, the more it happens.
- I love this — practice makes it permanent. Space out your learning to allow time to sleep on it after practice. When you learn something new, practice active recall to solidify learning. Build on what you already learned. Each subject you study, give it your full attention. To learn a new subject, after you finish your reading each day, take 10 minutes to recall what you read that day.

Quotes

“Marking a book is literally an experience of your differences or agreements with the author. It is the highest respect you can pay him”

“I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything that I don’t know the other side’s argument better than they do”

“Doing the work required to hold on opinion means you can argue against yourself better than others can.”

“what an investor needs is the ability to correctly evaluate selected business. Note that word “selected”: You don’t have to be an expert on every company, or even many. You only have to be able to evaluate companies within your circle of competence. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital”

“Teach thy tongue to say I do not know, and thou shalt progress”

“I’m no genius, I’m smart in spots - but I stay around those spots.”

“any fool can know. The point is to understand”

“it takes one to know one”

“the first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you’re the easiest person to fool”

True experts recognize the limits of what they know what what they do not know. If they find themselves outside of their circle of competence, they keep quiet or simply say, “I don’t know”.

“Skim a lot of books, read a few. Immediately re-read the best ones twice.”

The blank sheet primes your brain for what you’re about to read and shows you what you’re learning

reading a book should be a conversation between you and the author

understanding is a two way operation; the learner has to question himself and question the teacher. He even has to be willing to argue with the teacher, once he understands what the teacher is saying.

marking a book is literally an expression of your differences or your agreements with the author. It is the highest respect you can pay him

“priceless opportunity to furnish your mind and enrich the quality of your life”

“The rich invest in time, the poor invest in money”

“Men who have made these discoveries before us are not our masters, but our guides”

“go to bed smarter than when you woke up”

“we don’t read other people’s opinions. We want to get the facts, and then think”

“when it comes to reading, you don’t need to finish what you start”

“The pencil,” he argues, “becomes the sign of your alertness while you read”

The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.

“borrow liberally, combine uniquely, and create your bespoke blueprint.”

“first you make your habits and then your habits make you”

“anything is good for your heart is good for you head”

lifelong learning adds years to your life and life to your years

TEAM: Together Everyone Achieve More

be kind to yourself

learning is not solo, it’s social

genius leaves clues

“What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I understand”

there’s no failure, only failure to learn.

practice makes progress

to understand is to know what to do

“the key to better comprehension is asking better questions”

you shall receive when you ask questions