The big picture
I am presenting a way to read books that will increase your understanding and comprehension of books to the maximum you can go while not spending too much time, there are 6 steps in this process.
internalize the structure of the book and the table of contents
First, get an idea of the book, read the back of the book, introduction, etc.
then internalize the table of contents, you need to almost have it memorized.
Skim the chapter
Once you start a chapter you want to go through it quickly by reading the headings, bolded text, and whatever catches your attention, shouldnt take long.
Identify main points
After skimming, identify the main points in the chapter, these will be propostions of the author, not the arguments, not the examples, not the elaborations.
underline these main points and give them a special symbol (a star, a number, etc.)
Read the chapter
Now, you have the big picture of the chapter, you have the ideas, now you will read for details, read and capture your thoughts on the margins of the book, and also underline other stuff (why you needed the symbol earlier) that give you insights or make you go "aha"
Summarize
After completing the chapter, summarize it in your own words, use the blank pages after the chapter or at the end of the book if available, before you summarize it, go through the big picture again by rereading the main points underlined.
Capture (optional)
Make a digital summary in your commonplace book, whether its obsidian, evernote, onenote, notion, etc.
"But that takes a lot of time!"
Yes i hear your concern.
To make up for that, use a speed reading techinque when reading, i am against speed reading since it makes you focus on completion rather than understanding, but if you are doing all this, you need to balance it, and I will give you a good and simple speed reading technique:
dont read word to word, group words (3-5 words), and use a pencil while you read (dont move it linearly, move it under each group of words), it might be hard at first, but if you master it you can go through pages extremely fast.
But still, dont focus on speed, reading a book a week is a bad idea since you will rememeber nothing and it will not transform you.
I personally read a book a month, but i go through it with this process so it is worth it.
I want to study philosophy but I don't know where to start from. I'm not totally clueless, I have some understanding of concepts and I'm familiar with some philosophers but not as good as I wish. I have many unrelated patches of information in my mind that I randomly collected my entire life and I can't make any sense of because they're lack in context.
I would like to get book recommendations for beginners for both eastern and western philosophy. Thank you.
Why we must write with a hammer in our fingers
Recently, I’ve got this feeling where if one does not know how to fight totally with their writing, one cannot sustain his status in civilization as an honorable, well-kempt citizen. Not that I am for society. I am completely against conformism. I mean by this to be a person who can form a proper relationship with people, the city, nature, country, and the Earth, etc. Nietzsche had wrote that he philosophizes with a hammer. Often when we read his books, we feel like something has gotten smashed in our minds. Something stupid, dull has gotten destroyed by the intelligent philosopher. We don’t feel he created something in us, I suppose, but he had broken something, which has its own immense value. We only do not realize the significance of it after we have subsided our emotional hurt from all the beating the philosopher has done!
One phrase had left a strong imprint in my mind. Churchill wrote that if one wishes to attain the highest bouts of power, higher than kings, he had written one has to write and speak tremendously. Just by those two skills, he wrote that anything in terms of politics can be accomplished. And Churchill in my estimation has done reasonably well with both attaining power and not abusing his power when he was a politician. Who had the courage as Churchill to defy Hitler when all felt and looked like Germany would conquer Europe in an instant, where even the English government were in favor of siding with Germany? At least, I feel he deserves a bit of respect for defying not only his enemies, but also defying his friends and his country to do what is right politically. And Churchill was actually the one who wrote constantly against Hitler and the Nazis before the erupted Blitzkrieg out of nowhere. Nobody believed him, until it happened right in Britain’s face. All the “war-mongering” he had done with his political essays and journals had come to fruition and he became prime-minister after gaining the populace and Neville Chamberlain resigned after being seen incompetent to negotiate with the Third Reich.
What am I trying to say with this? Both practically and philosophically, writing texts with a hammer may bring immense value our lives. I will not go into philosophical debates whether fighting is a good thing or not, because even to consider this is rubbish. There is no question to what the right answer is. If we do not know how to defend ourselves and others physically, philosophically, spiritually, and intellectually, we are by all means, sterile. People think words have some spiritual eternal value in and of itself, so they become idealistic, romantic with their essays and oratory. However, how can one be truly skillful if he cannot see the reality of his own devices? The reality is that speech and texts are just as physical if not gross as our bodies, brains, and buildings. It is of the physical world, not of the spiritual world. Words are man-made, not of the heavens. Therefore, just like we cannot build new creative buildings unless we destroy old and weak buildings. We must be proactive with our words to both create and destroy. Only then will there be creativity. In all my life, I have never seen a single person who’s loving, who has never said a profane word in his life. Rather, a person who abstains from profanity and dark-humor had always felt vile to me, sneaky, underlings, and sometimes downright hypocritical, just like a person who always smiles. I never believe in a person who smiles at everybody.
I have heard from a spiritual-master, Rajneesh, say that if a father has never been angry at their children, he has never loved them. That if a father’s anger is cold, it becomes a hurt to the child, but if a father’s anger is hot and fiery, the child understands and would rather appreciate such earnest reactions from their father. This phrase had brung tears to my eyes because I had experienced both a fiery anger and a cold anger from my family. With fiery anger, I’ve felt refreshed and apologetic, with cold anger, I’ve felt wronged, molested, and crushed. I’ve always wished to be passionate and be a strong-hold for my friends, and so I wish I could be like this also with my writing. Not yet, I don’t see myself being such a prolific writer like Nietzsche or Churchill, but I know I will get there. Anyone who desires to do the right thing can get there. I sincerely can see many who read this essay will be able to understand the importance of being sincere in their speech and in their essays, whether it be creative or destructive.
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