Are books obsolete?

[BojackHorseman]

Oh no. clickbaity title.

Maybe a bit strong.

But consider this : if I want to read books for information (stories are another point that could be debated in different terms by opposing it to its other counterparts like movies, comics or whatnot), is there anything wrong in not reading books, and instead, watch videos or read shorter online content about the subject I'm looking for?

So far, it has done no harm to me.

After all, information is information. This point alone seems fair enough to me to say that we don't need books and it should just be one mean of learning amongst others. If you like the way it feels go for it, if not, books, shouldn't be as sacralized as they are.

I might be wrong, but those are just my thoughts.

My personal bias tho, is that I'm having more trouble picking up and keep on reading a book regularly (I used to love to before), and focusing on longer content. As most humans do nowadays. But isn't it just evolution if we learn in different ways? Does information need to go through a book?

[Carl-Richard]

People spend years or decades writing one book. People spend an afternoon or a week making a video. There is only so much depth that a video can give you. Even the best educational videos out there don't give you 1% of the depth that a book can give you. Channels like Veritasium give you easily digestible introductions to a subject, which can be very useful, but if you want to truly grasp a subject, you need to go to the source, and that is usually in the form of books. Watching college lectures is an intermediate thing. It gives you maybe 5% more depth, and it's usually a bit more digestible (depending on the book and the lecturer), but if you don't care about that and want to read the books, videos and lectures are really a waste of time, as you can read much faster than a lecturer can speak.

[BojackHorseman]

In terms of time, what I like in videos is that people I trust have digested a lot of content and took the important points out of whatever sources they learned from. So I don't think a video is always a waste of time.

Now about depth...that's probably right. To be honest, and that's entirely a personal problem, maybe my ADHD brain hopping from content to content doesn't need to go that in depth on topics in general. But maybe if I did need to dive deep, online content would make me plateau at some time.

[UnbornTao]

Another benefit is how the information in a book can be well-structured, concise and condensed. Books get to the point. It's about content and substance, not fancy distractions. A book that provides value is not about entertainment.

It's a matter of depth and scope. 

Problem is people want easy ways to consume something. Being addiction to stimulation may make reading a chore for some people.

[Ajax]

Well, I will suggest taking a more SD Orange approach. Books are often a kind of passive thing, so are videos. You got to get out and do shit. You got to make shit happen. Many times, it is better to learn the good stuff when you put some money on the line. I continually buy courses or enroll in Udemy courses to get knowledge. Passively watching a video is not going to fire up all the cylinders in your mind and get busy making things happen.  Leo’s LP course is one of the best investments I made in myself and it gave me the power to really hone in and focus on what I want.

Don’t get me wrong, I love reading. I have read at least 20 of Stephen King’s books for fun and to look for ways and ideas to improve my own writing. Action is more powerful than consuming data/information. When you do that, whatever you read becomes so much more powerful.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Ajax

[Thought Art]

If all you watch is videos you’ll end up with a shallow understanding of things.

Reading a book takes time, but you get deeper understanding.

[ZzzleepingBear]

Videos are typically good for you to get the gist of things or a subject. While reading is the unfolding part the subject.

[Jacob Morres]

Books are just 1 medium, and plenty of successful people don't read . I remember Gary vee said he didn't read a single book. 

Also hormozi said he only read a couple b4 he said he thought they were not that valuable. He learned thru mentors and being in a business tho 

I do think books have great value but there are like a dozens ways to learn

Interviews, podcasts, videos, mentors, courses etc. 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Jacob Morres

[Girzo]

Books are of a much higher quality than any other content. The only thing that is better than books is audiobooks, but definitely not interviews and podcasts. Also, the podcast guest wouldn't be able to formulate their opinions so clearly if they haven't written a book about the topic. So books are not going anywhere.

You can also see the results of someone doing their work only on video, that is Actualized.org itself. Hard to save and find exact clips, repetitious content (a lot of people say that about Leo's work), the content is not so cohesive, hard to say what is outdated and what is upheld by Leo, etc. You can look for the topics critiquing Leo videos on this forum, they are also critiques of this approach to building a philosophy/teaching/message.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Girzo

[Jacob Morres]

@Girzo fair point 

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Jacob Morres

[SeaMonster]

I don't want to get into a "this is what's wrong with your generation" take...but this is what's wrong with your generation.  

Lazy, intellectually shallow and cultish is no way to go through life.  "Videos" are perfect brainwashing by omission.

Edited July 24, 2023 by SeaMonster

[Recursoinominado]

I think books will never be obsolete.

It is an imersive form of learning.

I learn way more by reading because it demands focus and a slow pace.

Fast isn't better when it comes to learning.

[Thought Art]

One day I will hook myself to an iv attached to all human knowledge and feed myself that way

Edited July 24, 2023 by Thought Art

[Jacob Morres]

@Thought Art I wish. sometimes wish I was born in 2140 lol 

[Hojo]

You want to keep them around as they preserve history in a way a video cannot, so governments cant change history. But we are headed that way and that could be what they want

Edited July 24, 2023 by Hojo

[Selfnaught]

One time I used a well renown book for an essay while I was in college on a topic completely unrelated to anything we talk about here. The topic, while for a class, also was a topic I loved to study at that time. I posted the entire essay on a forum and and few members corrected a part of my essay I got from that book and after doing research it turns out the book was wrong and they were right! This particular thing I got wrong was something I had no knowledge of due to to it being a subtopic that I really didn’t dive into or read about until then.
 

Not making excuses at all, I still read. That has set in a bad way with me though. Especially when one realizes books are written by people who have biases and their own agendas. There’s always criticism of another person for whatever book so I take things as more of an opinion than fact which is why sometimes it may be better to do videos of what multiple “experts” are saying to get a clearer understanding on a certain subject within a subject. For instance in nonduality, for example, I’ve read Jed McKennas “The Damndest Thing” and I’m sure there’s some people here that disagree with his position. When I have to do my own research on a book I give them the same grain of salt I do to any other form of information. 

Edited July 25, 2023 by Selfnaught

[Davino]

Read a book by Ken Wilber or Douglas Hofstadter and try to get the same delivery through any other method. The highest quality communications can only be delivered through books or continuous, direct one-on-one teaching.

[StarStruck]

Spoken language is a very slow delivery. We humans understand things through symbolism but not many teachers understand this because most are knuckle heads. 

[gettoefl]

videos are what's obsolete ... chat-gpt can summarize in 1 sentence, 1 paragraph or 1 essay

your choice

what's a book?

[Carl-Richard]

22 minutes ago, gettoefl said:

videos are what's obsolete ... chat-gpt can summarize in 1 sentence, 1 paragraph or 1 essay

your choice

what's a book?

ChatGPT lies.