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Comment by codingdave | Hacker News Reader

I agree with the gist of this article, but it feels like the details are trying too hard. Books are great, and do add value to your life and help you educate yourself. But the improvements they make in your life are not automatic - you need to actively engage with the content. Neither are they unique - if you engage with meaningful content, of any kind, you can learn and improve yourself.

Books are wonderful. But they are not magic. Nevertheless, I do fully agree with the larger point that people should keep reading them.

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Considering that some people read zero books a year, the simple act of reading a book would be a huge improvement in ongoing literacy and attention span for some people.

I think if books were more useful, people would have a better attention span for them. Reading a book won't automatically improve your life. Usually it's just another form of time-wasting.

Reading may be just another form of "time-wasting" but it requires far more focus and brain activity than watching television and it doesn't have a fast reward feedback loop like video games or physical activity. For many people sitting down to read a book takes less energy and focus than the other activities but for many (or even most) others the lack of external stimuli and social engagement means reading requires more of an investment. Books are no more or less useful than other communication medium, they just require different parts of the brain to engage.

"...if books were more useful..."

...[great pause]...

I am not capable of replying in a way to meaningfully improve your outlook in life. Good luck to you sir.

...[close browser and go for walk]...

I get his point, though. At the moment I'm guiding my goddaughter through her first term at university, so I'm reading a lot, and I have to say that the average textbook can be condensed to 10% of its volume without any loss of information. It's a terrible waste of time, even if you are only scanning the texts.

Please don't get me wrong: I love reading in general.

> the average textbook can be condensed to 10% of its volume without any loss of information

It's crazy isn't it? I wrote a math & physics textbook[1] that condenses nearly 2000+ pages of precalculus, mechanics, and calculus, in very few pages. I think I could make it even shorter, but I wanted to include lots of exercises/problems because those are important.

[1] https://minireference.com/ see extended preview here https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSguide_v5_previ...

> Neither are they unique - if you engage with meaningful content, of any kind, you can learn and improve yourself.

Youtube has been godsend for me last couple of years. It exposed my own ignorance about how little I knew about the world.

Now I usually type in 'BBC documentary' into youtube every night and watch it in bed. Also helps me get rid of some of the self-centered pre-bed anxiety.

I hope you use f.lux or something similar if you're in front of a screen before going to bed. Otherwise the blue light from the monitor is likely doing your sleep more harm than watching the documentary.

Actually the harm to your sleep is done when using your computer in the night, rather than specifically in bed with your lights off.

May I suggest you watch Alain de Botton's Status Anxiety next time? Might hit two birds with one stone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1MqJPHxy6g

I had planned that. Watch a documentary every day (most of them are one hour and a half long, that's the time you probably waste scrolling on facebook anyways, so imagine investing it on knowledge. 365 in a year are going to shift your perspectives 720 degrees.

I love reading and learning from books. However, it is a bit too easy to tell yourself that you have improved after finishing a book. I like this quote (from Dale Carnegie I think):

"Knowledge isn’t power until it is applied."

You need to use the knowledge you gain, not just hoard it.

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