As a follow up to my last article, Speed Reading And Sparring*, I felt it was necessary to bring up a relevant new analogy as to how I ingest data (aka “read”).

Essentially, there are two ways to read a book: you can either read it for entertainment, or you can read it for education.

The former is the way we were all classically trained in school; learning how to read every single word, every bit of data, intellectualizing how the author might have been feeling or what they might have meant with a specific line.

Then, there is the latter—reading for education. This is the style of reading which isn’t readily taught in school; rather, is something you naturally pick up when having to ready inordinate amounts of literature in higher-learning institutions. Essentially, think of it like reading a chapter before your 3-hour lecture in university (do students still read before class?). Did you read every single word, every bit of data, intellectualize how the author might have been feeling or what they might have meant in the paragraph of the textbook? No, you read the header then quickly ingested the principles being taught. It’s about seeing the forest and not the trees.

What is this supposed to teach me?
What is the valuable lesson here?
What is the general takeaway which can then be integrated in both my life and current body of knowledge?

It’s a shame that this style of reading doesn’t get taught more often (or maybe it does and the schools that I went to just forgot to mention it?).

Boiled down, I liken this style of reading to driving a car. It’s quicker, more valuable, and gets you from point A to B without a fuss. And just like driving a car, you have your coast moments and you have your ultra-focused moments.

Have you ever driven from point A to B without even realizing it? Then there are those moments where you have to grip tightly on the steering wheel and train all of your attention on the road because something novel came your way. That’s what it’s like to read for education versus entertainment. 

You’ve seen the same stop signs, the same punctuations, the same green lights, the same sentence phrasings, so many times now that you can easily breeze through the fluff without missing the point. You are cruising through the section. Then, all of a sudden, a car swerves in your way and you have to train all of your attention and focus to not get hit. You’ve encountered an important bit of information that requires you to slow down and really focus in on the issue at hand. You pay so much attention to this one detail that you try not to forget it or even link it to other ideas you’ve previously read about. This is also why I highlight and make notes in my books. That’s me slowing down, taking account of the entire situation and moving forward with a clearer, better, and more alert understanding of the lessons at play.

Now, this style of reading isn’t for everyone, and it’s not something you can easily achieve right away. It takes a lot of practice and commitment to learn to “drive while reading”. However, I assure you that the juice in this case is definitely worth the squeeze, and you’ll be able to power through a myriad of books while taking away the gems (not unlike Sonic collecting his coins).

That being said, I think it’s now important to ask yourself, “why do I read in the first place?” Is it for enjoyment? Then go with the former. If it’s for education, then go with the latter.

Personally, and to this day, I can honestly say that I still can’t read for enjoyment… it’s just not something I’m really interested in.

-keep reading.