Do We Really Need to Read?

Growing up, I was surrounded by avid readers and intellectuals that believed knowledge is key to achieving anything you desire. Books surrounded me since childhood, and every room in the house usually had a book or two lying around.

Today, I'm still surrounded by the books I grew up mesmerized with, but I must admit; I haven't picked up a new book for a while. No, I haven't turned my back on knowledge, but I did get a little bored with reading until I stumbled upon an interesting article titled "This is why the smartest people in the world own tons of books they don’t read". Discovering a new method of reading called "Fractal Reading", and an interesting little thing called 'Blinkist' has brought back my enthusiasm for learning, making it an easier and more interesting experience.

It's a time where things move at a pace we can barely keep up with. New ideas develop every day, and information is spreading all around us like wildfire. In order to cope with the speed a lot of people are uncomfortable with, we have to adapt. Fractal reading, for example, is a reading technique that helps you gain the book's knowledge through its metadata; and it's quite simple:

1. Listen to the author's interview.
2. Watch the author's TED talk.
3. Read the most helpful 1-star, 2-star, 3-star, 4-star, and 5-star reviews on book review websites.
4. Read the first and last chapters of the book.

To follow this method and understand it a little more, I suggest reading the article I previously mentioned. Also, keep in mind that this method won't work with fiction books as it would completely ruin the story-line.

One of the things that has truly helped me through my knowledge gap is Blinkist. It's a website and app dedicated to giving people with busy lives, short attention spans (and lots of excuses) the most important information and ideas in books. Summarized and even presented through sound bits (just like podcasts), it gave me everything I needed and made me feel a little less guilty about the books I gave-up on. In my defense, they were full of repetitions and useless paragraphs used to help the author publish a book.

In the end, books will always be a thing. I will always have a book or two lying around, and will read one sitting on a bench somewhere with a cool breeze nuzzling my hair and the smell of good coffee filling the air. Even when I don't feel like reading through 300 pages; there's still a lot of ways to get the good juice out of great books.