Did Ken Wilber Actually Read 400 Books on His Bibliography

[Rasheed]

In Ken Wilber's books, he has basically 400+ book in his bibliography. You can find example of it in books such as 'Up from Eden', 'Spectrum of Consciousness' etc...My question is: 

- Did he actually read all those books? 

[Thought Art]

Ask him lol

[Nilsi]

That's not even all that much. You can easily read 400 books in a year or two, if you are serious and know what you're looking for.

[Thought Art]

@Nilsi something like 200 if you read one a week. He probably doesn’t read them cover to cover 

[Nilsi]

7 minutes ago, Thought Art said:

@Nilsi something like 200 if you read one a week. He probably doesn’t read them cover to cover 

There are people that read multiple books a day.

[Thought Art]

@Nilsi ahah, not whole books 

[ThePoint]

2 minutes ago, Nilsi said:

There are people that read multiple books a day.

@Nilsi How?

[Rasheed]

1 hour ago, Thought Art said:

Ask him lol

How to ask him personally???...Hehe, so I decided ask it here.  

@Nilsi

Honestly, how can person do that? or how Wilber did that, I don't know, that is why I am asking...

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Rasheed

[Nilsi]

1 hour ago, ThePoint said:

@Nilsi How?

I can read a medium sized book a day if I want. You can use reading techniques to multiply your speed significantly (which I'm not doing). You can also just read the parts that you care about.

Some former president of the USA (I unfortunately don't remember who) used to read a book everyday before breakfast. There are levels to this game lol.

[Nilsi]

46 minutes ago, Rasheed said:

How to ask him personally???...Hehe, so I decided ask it here.  

@Nilsi

Honestly, how can person do that? or how Wilber did that, I don't know, that is why I am asking...

 

Wilber knew exactly what he wanted to know and he just went and did it.

[Thought Art]

You can’t read a complex book in a day and understand it. 

[Nilsi]

6 minutes ago, Thought Art said:

You can’t read a complex book in a day and understand it. 

You certainly can't read something like "Sex, Ecology, Spirituality" or "The Matter With Things" in a day, but a lot of the source material of Wilber could be comfortably read in a day.

Also, remember, Wilber had a clear goal for reading these books (understanding human development), so he just has to find the bits and pieces that are relevant for his endeavors. He doesn't have to understand every single word Nietzsche said or know every detail of quantum mechanics, nor did he.

I don't even know how much Wilber read and I'm not making any claims on that, I'm just telling you what's possible.

Edited September 21, 2022 by Nilsi

[Thought Art]

@Nilsi Eitherway he is brilliant. His autobiography was written at what age? 
 

As a writer of his caliber you naturally read more than an average…

which, now that I think of it isn’t hard as most don’t read.

[gettoefl]

1 hour ago, Thought Art said:

You can’t read a complex book in a day and understand it. 

there are no complex books if you're expert level

when you know your subject matter, you can figure out a book's perspective in a few minutes

hint: read backwards, last chapter to first

when it's your job to be an authority, it is incumbent on you to know every book coming out and know precisely what it is saying

[Nilsi]

11 minutes ago, Thought Art said:

@Nilsi Eitherway he is brilliant. His autobiography was written at what age? 

Didn't even know he wrote an autobiography lol.

[Thought Art]

@Nilsi oops, I meant what age was he when he wrote the book in which it had a 400 page bibliography. It’s not an insane amount given his age either nor given his works. 
 

ive probably got about 200 books right now… 

@gettoeflThats somewhat true. It really depends I think. Some fields are complex enough that things still take time to integrate. Also, the last chapter thing is nonsense. I’ve read enough books where the last chapter is a stand alone point that I wouldn’t do that. I would rather instead read the table of contents then skim through the book reading all the headers and sub headers, tables and any text boxes. That’s a better way to get a rough outline at least. Even then, you only what what a book says when I you read it. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Thought Art

[Leo Gura]

He's probably read way more.

[lostingenosmaze]

4 hours ago, Nilsi said:

Some former president of the USA (I unfortunately don't remember who) used to read a book everyday before breakfast. There are levels to this game lol.

Theodore Roosevelt, I can't think of any other President who's as much a voracious reader than him

[kieranperez]

I know a lot of people who know Wilber personally and he's a machine. It's kind of crazy his ability to synthesize massive amounts of work. His 20's and 30s he simply dedicated his life to writing, Zen, reading, and his job as a dishwasher. Not everybody can do what he does.

[StarStruck]

If you have an ereader you can easily read a book a day. If it is a new topic it is a different story but if you already have knowledge about the subject it is a matter of connecting the dots, making highlights and pumping knowledge.