Learning to read
I am the first to admit that I am not a good reader. As much as I like a good book, I, for one reason or another, am not a good reader. By that I do not just mean that I am not a fast reader. I am just not very adept at reading a passage properly. Dumb huh? Well, no.
Firstly, what does it mean to 'read properly'. Surely there is no such thing, right? Everyone has their own reading style, that best suits their idiosyncrasy. True enough, I suppose, but I believe that there are those qualities of a 'good read'. That is, assuming of course that the passage at hand is an interesting and engaging one. What would those qualities be? Concentration is, I imagine, a big factor. The ability to immerse oneself into the passage, and to disengage from all external input. Easier said than done, and gripping writing is a must. But definitely doable. Unless of course you have the attention span of a fuitfly, like I do. A satisfying and complete reading experience involves some other practices. A reader should be able to concentrate on the text, but at the same time be able to make sense out of it. Reading is all nice and good. Understanding is, however, the goal. Now, here's a Catch 22 for you. In order to make good sense of what you read, broad knowledge is a useful tool. And broad knowledge is (at least partly) acquired, how? That's right: More reading. Of course that is not as bad as I make it sound. It merely means that the more you read, the more meaningful your readings are. The more you can make sense of what the words try to convey, consequently, the more enjoyable and engaging the whole experience becomes. Part of all this, is the ability to make associations. Knowledge is a network of interlocking bits of data, if you may. The more connections you can make, the more solid the network*. By associations I also mean cognitive and emotional exchanges. It is very good to read Robert Pirsig explaining how he feels about the sensation of riding a motorcycle. And how well, he does so indeed! But imagine how much more at home it feels when you can associate that with your last ride down Mullholland Dr. The feeling of fast moving tarmac 6 inches below your boots can only be understood when it is YOUR feet in those boots, instead of Pirsig's (of course why Robert would want to wear your boots instead of his is beyond me). I digress. My point here I guess that as wonderful as the book, article, brochure, ad in the public toilet is, hands-on (or feet-in) experience just makes it that much more relevant. So what else makes for a good reading experience? The ability to think would be nice, I s'ppose. Now I know this seems obvious, but consider this: During your last reading session, how much did you sit and think about that last paragraph you just read? "Why did this just happen?", or "That gift of glacee chestnuts in the first chapter finally makes sense". Or "is this a real experience or is my character hallucinating?", and of course "the social structure of France at the turn of the century (the 20th) sounds pretty interesting". I don't know about you, but it happens that I can go for pages without thinking sometimes. Let's be realistic, however. The purpose is not to analyse every word and comma and apostrophe. One must achieve a good pace of reading if one should makes sense of the complete text. Spending two hours considering the moral implications of Jonothan's breakfast choice can be counterproductive on occasion. Balance is of the essence.
This all sort of brings me back to my initial claim: I am a poor reader. Not only are my readings scarce, but more worryingly they are often disengaged. I suffer from a very short attention span, if I haven't said so earlier. This passage has taken me many sittings to accomplish. A coffee, lunch, some video games, a phonecall or two and some other feats have interrupted it. This is what my reading is like too. I quickly become an observer of the text rather than a sponge of its content. In a sense it scrolls before me as if a floral-pattern wallpaper. A few pages down the line, I realise, I have no idea who Jonothan is, what he is doing with those chestnuts, and how I found myself in the living room with this book in the first place. Coffee than sounds like a good idea.
I am a scientist. No laughter please. I am a trained scientist. That's what my visa says and I am sticking to that story. Being engaged to what I read, and more importantly making some sense out of it, is pretty important to me. These days I struggle. I find that I do not care enough to make an effort. My attention wanders to other thoughts and before I know it is lunchtime. Time to eat the wife's courgette and mushroom concoction. No disrespect. It is actually pretty tasty with some yoghurt. I am however at crossroads. I am trying to figure out what is more worthwhile. Making the effort to comprehend my science of choice, or calling it a day and putting on a waiter's shirt (or even better a chef's hat). I have so far stuck to it and tried to make it work. I have tried to think of strategies to baby-step my way into scientific enlightenment. I bought a notebook and try to use it every time I read something. Thinking still eludes me most of the time. I mean real thinking. Connections. You know "this is crap. these assumptions are based on thin air, if so-and-so is to be believed". That sort of stuff. Active rather than passive reading. I guess that's what it boils down to. That and caring.
-NT
* disclaimer: take all this with a large pinch of coarse sea salt. I am only expressing a, more than likely naive, point of view.
Firstly, what does it mean to 'read properly'. Surely there is no such thing, right? Everyone has their own reading style, that best suits their idiosyncrasy. True enough, I suppose, but I believe that there are those qualities of a 'good read'. That is, assuming of course that the passage at hand is an interesting and engaging one. What would those qualities be? Concentration is, I imagine, a big factor. The ability to immerse oneself into the passage, and to disengage from all external input. Easier said than done, and gripping writing is a must. But definitely doable. Unless of course you have the attention span of a fuitfly, like I do. A satisfying and complete reading experience involves some other practices. A reader should be able to concentrate on the text, but at the same time be able to make sense out of it. Reading is all nice and good. Understanding is, however, the goal. Now, here's a Catch 22 for you. In order to make good sense of what you read, broad knowledge is a useful tool. And broad knowledge is (at least partly) acquired, how? That's right: More reading. Of course that is not as bad as I make it sound. It merely means that the more you read, the more meaningful your readings are. The more you can make sense of what the words try to convey, consequently, the more enjoyable and engaging the whole experience becomes. Part of all this, is the ability to make associations. Knowledge is a network of interlocking bits of data, if you may. The more connections you can make, the more solid the network*. By associations I also mean cognitive and emotional exchanges. It is very good to read Robert Pirsig explaining how he feels about the sensation of riding a motorcycle. And how well, he does so indeed! But imagine how much more at home it feels when you can associate that with your last ride down Mullholland Dr. The feeling of fast moving tarmac 6 inches below your boots can only be understood when it is YOUR feet in those boots, instead of Pirsig's (of course why Robert would want to wear your boots instead of his is beyond me). I digress. My point here I guess that as wonderful as the book, article, brochure, ad in the public toilet is, hands-on (or feet-in) experience just makes it that much more relevant. So what else makes for a good reading experience? The ability to think would be nice, I s'ppose. Now I know this seems obvious, but consider this: During your last reading session, how much did you sit and think about that last paragraph you just read? "Why did this just happen?", or "That gift of glacee chestnuts in the first chapter finally makes sense". Or "is this a real experience or is my character hallucinating?", and of course "the social structure of France at the turn of the century (the 20th) sounds pretty interesting". I don't know about you, but it happens that I can go for pages without thinking sometimes. Let's be realistic, however. The purpose is not to analyse every word and comma and apostrophe. One must achieve a good pace of reading if one should makes sense of the complete text. Spending two hours considering the moral implications of Jonothan's breakfast choice can be counterproductive on occasion. Balance is of the essence.
This all sort of brings me back to my initial claim: I am a poor reader. Not only are my readings scarce, but more worryingly they are often disengaged. I suffer from a very short attention span, if I haven't said so earlier. This passage has taken me many sittings to accomplish. A coffee, lunch, some video games, a phonecall or two and some other feats have interrupted it. This is what my reading is like too. I quickly become an observer of the text rather than a sponge of its content. In a sense it scrolls before me as if a floral-pattern wallpaper. A few pages down the line, I realise, I have no idea who Jonothan is, what he is doing with those chestnuts, and how I found myself in the living room with this book in the first place. Coffee than sounds like a good idea.
I am a scientist. No laughter please. I am a trained scientist. That's what my visa says and I am sticking to that story. Being engaged to what I read, and more importantly making some sense out of it, is pretty important to me. These days I struggle. I find that I do not care enough to make an effort. My attention wanders to other thoughts and before I know it is lunchtime. Time to eat the wife's courgette and mushroom concoction. No disrespect. It is actually pretty tasty with some yoghurt. I am however at crossroads. I am trying to figure out what is more worthwhile. Making the effort to comprehend my science of choice, or calling it a day and putting on a waiter's shirt (or even better a chef's hat). I have so far stuck to it and tried to make it work. I have tried to think of strategies to baby-step my way into scientific enlightenment. I bought a notebook and try to use it every time I read something. Thinking still eludes me most of the time. I mean real thinking. Connections. You know "this is crap. these assumptions are based on thin air, if so-and-so is to be believed". That sort of stuff. Active rather than passive reading. I guess that's what it boils down to. That and caring.
-NT
* disclaimer: take all this with a large pinch of coarse sea salt. I am only expressing a, more than likely naive, point of view.