If I could compare the process of learning through reading, I'd say it's more akin to a slowly cooking something at a low temperature rather than microwaving a dish. Learning takes time. Unfortunately, we've been sold a myth that learning can be had instantly along with our consumer culture. We have one day delivery through Amazon. We can access a wide variety of movies or shows on demand through any one of our streaming services that we subscribe to. Our phones feed us constant information delivered in bite size formats. Learning isn't like this, because the human mind doesn't learn like that.
I see this through my own experience of learning through reading. We think that if we put in the work of reading through a work, that we are owed learning and understanding of what we've read. We treat reading like a competition or pursuit we will win if we read enough of the right books; if we check them off our list as done. Not so fast.
When our minds digest a whole bunch of unfamiliar or novel information for the first thing, they are just trying to keep up; they are essentially trying to outline a sketch or scaffolding from which to hang the actual meat of the arguments. This structure that our mind builds also needs time to sub-consciously process and integrate the ideas we are reading. This time gives your mind the space to solidify and integrate the ideas you've read with other ideas and experiences you've gained and had throughout your life.
The real magic happens though when you re-read a book. Not all books are worth re-reading (or even the finishing the first time). A book that deals with important ideas no matter how difficult it was to get through the first time, will feel much more accessible the second time through, providing you give your mind space to breath and integrate those ideas below the surface. You may even look at the book and remember that it was great, but not be able to fully articulate the arguments within it. The second time through the ideas will just seem familiar and pop out to you more. Your mind won't be busy becoming familiar with the book but you'll jog your initial memories from reading it and then focus in on some of the details and arguments that you just didn't have the bandwidth to process the first time.
This goes for multiple re-reads. A really great book will reward multiple re-reads. Each time you'll be more familiar with it and therefore be able to notice more details with much less effort.
Most people hardly read books though. Or they read easy books. Our conception of learning as something instant, that we really don't have time for, simply rebels in protest against the idea of reading a difficult book once, let alone twice or multiple times. But our brains simply can't do it any other way. This isn't a microwave process but a slow cooker process.
As you learn more and more about a subject matter over time your mind will be able to understand and integrate information faster, as that base knowledge will be solidified in our mind. This takes time though. You can't expect to become fully versed in a subject and be able to mix knowledge from one field with knowledge from a completely different field and come up with novel creative ideas in just a short period of time; this takes a lot of time.
Mastering the ability to read well takes an understanding that it's not an instant process; this process doesn't come from our consumerist culture, and in fact, will be hurt by approaching it that way. There is a method to follow in becoming a great reader, which is someone who can actually understand the arguments and ideas you are reading and articulate your own response to them.
Mortimer Adler's book, aptly titled How to Read a Book, walks us through this process. He outlines four stages of reading: elementary, inspectional, analytical and synoptical. We can skip elementary reading, which is basically learning how to actually read words on a page. Inspectional reading can contain the review of the table of contents and inspectional read through of the book where your goal is to get the gist of the book, but not to stop and get bogged down in words and terms you don't understand. This step aligns with my experience of building a structure in your mind of the ideas in the book that make it much easier to read through the second time. The next step is analytical reading, which requires a more in-depth read through of a book, asking your own questions about the author's ideas and answering them for yourself. If you don't do the first step though this is difficult to do in a meaningful way, in my own experience. I would imagine that the analytical read through could potentially encompass multiple read throughs, depending on the book of course. The final stage is to read synoptically which in my understanding means to read and to compare the ideas in this books with the ideas of other author's who've written throughout history; to ask yourself where this book fits and to think about the interaction of these ideas between a variety of authors.
Your temptation will be to avoid this process; to take the quick route. But I think our brains just aren't designed for that. Remember, Aesop's fable of the tortoise and the hare. Remember, the tortoise finishes first in the end.
In my own personal experience, I've read through many books, some which required my full attention and took determination to get through. I've found that the first time through difficult is rewarding but when picking up the book for a second read through or to simply re-read a chapter or random place in the book, is much more rewarding. This wouldn't of been possible without the first read through. I don't really know how to skip it.
As I mentioned above, as you read more and more of a certain subject matter, these books will feel easier as you already have scaffolded so much knowledge in your mind that you'll be able to dive in quicker to themes. My experience could be more of the result of been a novice still in many fields. But one example of a category where I get things quicker is in the realm of Christian and Jewish theology. I've spent some much time already building a scaffold of knowledge in these areas that when I read a new author or commentator who brings a different perspective or a new way of looking at these things, I can at least engage more quickly with those arguments in my mind, just because of familiarity.
I see this through my own experience of learning through reading. We think that if we put in the work of reading through a work, that we are owed learning and understanding of what we've read. We treat reading like a competition or pursuit we will win if we read enough of the right books; if we check them off our list as done. Not so fast.
When our minds digest a whole bunch of unfamiliar or novel information for the first thing, they are just trying to keep up; they are essentially trying to outline a sketch or scaffolding from which to hang the actual meat of the arguments. This structure that our mind builds also needs time to sub-consciously process and integrate the ideas we are reading. This time gives your mind the space to solidify and integrate the ideas you've read with other ideas and experiences you've gained and had throughout your life.
The real magic happens though when you re-read a book. Not all books are worth re-reading (or even the finishing the first time). A book that deals with important ideas no matter how difficult it was to get through the first time, will feel much more accessible the second time through, providing you give your mind space to breath and integrate those ideas below the surface. You may even look at the book and remember that it was great, but not be able to fully articulate the arguments within it. The second time through the ideas will just seem familiar and pop out to you more. Your mind won't be busy becoming familiar with the book but you'll jog your initial memories from reading it and then focus in on some of the details and arguments that you just didn't have the bandwidth to process the first time.
This goes for multiple re-reads. A really great book will reward multiple re-reads. Each time you'll be more familiar with it and therefore be able to notice more details with much less effort.
Most people hardly read books though. Or they read easy books. Our conception of learning as something instant, that we really don't have time for, simply rebels in protest against the idea of reading a difficult book once, let alone twice or multiple times. But our brains simply can't do it any other way. This isn't a microwave process but a slow cooker process.
As you learn more and more about a subject matter over time your mind will be able to understand and integrate information faster, as that base knowledge will be solidified in our mind. This takes time though. You can't expect to become fully versed in a subject and be able to mix knowledge from one field with knowledge from a completely different field and come up with novel creative ideas in just a short period of time; this takes a lot of time.
Mastering the ability to read well takes an understanding that it's not an instant process; this process doesn't come from our consumerist culture, and in fact, will be hurt by approaching it that way. There is a method to follow in becoming a great reader, which is someone who can actually understand the arguments and ideas you are reading and articulate your own response to them.
Mortimer Adler's book, aptly titled How to Read a Book, walks us through this process. He outlines four stages of reading: elementary, inspectional, analytical and synoptical. We can skip elementary reading, which is basically learning how to actually read words on a page. Inspectional reading can contain the review of the table of contents and inspectional read through of the book where your goal is to get the gist of the book, but not to stop and get bogged down in words and terms you don't understand. This step aligns with my experience of building a structure in your mind of the ideas in the book that make it much easier to read through the second time. The next step is analytical reading, which requires a more in-depth read through of a book, asking your own questions about the author's ideas and answering them for yourself. If you don't do the first step though this is difficult to do in a meaningful way, in my own experience. I would imagine that the analytical read through could potentially encompass multiple read throughs, depending on the book of course. The final stage is to read synoptically which in my understanding means to read and to compare the ideas in this books with the ideas of other author's who've written throughout history; to ask yourself where this book fits and to think about the interaction of these ideas between a variety of authors.
Your temptation will be to avoid this process; to take the quick route. But I think our brains just aren't designed for that. Remember, Aesop's fable of the tortoise and the hare. Remember, the tortoise finishes first in the end.
In my own personal experience, I've read through many books, some which required my full attention and took determination to get through. I've found that the first time through difficult is rewarding but when picking up the book for a second read through or to simply re-read a chapter or random place in the book, is much more rewarding. This wouldn't of been possible without the first read through. I don't really know how to skip it.
As I mentioned above, as you read more and more of a certain subject matter, these books will feel easier as you already have scaffolded so much knowledge in your mind that you'll be able to dive in quicker to themes. My experience could be more of the result of been a novice still in many fields. But one example of a category where I get things quicker is in the realm of Christian and Jewish theology. I've spent some much time already building a scaffold of knowledge in these areas that when I read a new author or commentator who brings a different perspective or a new way of looking at these things, I can at least engage more quickly with those arguments in my mind, just because of familiarity.