Hey! I’m back from last week’s digital sabbatical! Lately I’ve written so much content for blog posts, pages of books and guest posts.
The digital vacation (sabbatical) I was I enabled me to read a decent amount of books, and consume more information than I ever did during my whole lifetime. I also watched a video, on youtube, which was called “How many books will you read in your life?”. The description under the video writes:
A well-read person will read less than 1000 books before they die
This looks kind of interesting to me, because I now want to ask you a question:
is it really important to read a book from start to finish, to get the useful information it contains?
Now, I will try to tell you that your intelligence doesn’t depend on how many books you will ever read in your life;
Your intelligence depends on:
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how good will you treat yourself,
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how you will reach the right information for your deepest self
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how you will put that information to good use in your life.
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that is, how you will put concepts into practice.
This brief introduction leads me to the real concept of this week’s article: what’s the difference between reading on paper and reading on a computer screen? and how the digital book will lead us towards a better world?
Digital books (eBooks) vs. paper books
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First difference is a difference in experience, because reading on paper cannot compare to the digital consumption of books (or the other way around).
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Accessibility is also different in the two cases, because we can read on paper during the day without having to turn a light on, or to boot our computer up.
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Third difference lays in sight’s effort to read: personally, reading on paper has a susceptibility due to the fact that in some cases we can’t have a decent, optimal light to read. On the other hand, a computer’s screen allows us to read in a perfectly uniform page lighting.
What about Data / Information retained during the reading?
The total amount of data we can retain from the overall experience of reading depends on deeply individual differences. Everything depends on how our brain perceives the information.
From the data excess to the perfect amount of information
(about the distinction between information and data, check this link)
The amount of data we find is in literature (and in other genre of books) quite impressive. Literature and narrative in general is made up of books of hundreds and hundreds of pages, most of whose content is totally useless. That is why I rely on Blogs and eBooks, and not on generic books. Books are a wonderful means to share knowledge, but the final user needs a way to find the perfect books for himself, for his own personal development, for his own perfect literary taste and style
In praise of blogging and bloggers
How do we find the perfect book, that will taste good to us? Blogs will be our answer: we will find everything by simply looking into blogs, bloggers’ nests and knowing a blogger in person, whose main concern could be sending out valuable information to the masses.
The blogger is a mediator and translator between the information contained in the net and the final user.
An article like this, for example, could have in itself a lot of great, valuable, incredible data. These words are probably the result of the last 100 books I’ve read (+ my personal experience in real life) so… there is no point in being so obsessive about reading something everyone talks about the whole time, or that you already know. Most of the books out there are a total waste of time for those who read them, and for those who published them. So, why waste your time too, now?
What to do then?
If you want to know more, study and learn, the best thing you can do is go out there, going out, or surfing the net in search of interaction with a speaker of foreign languages (in the case you want to learn a new language). Same idea if you want to start writing and get better at it, just start writing and know someone who has the same interest in writing.
Where to read and what to read?
Where
you can read everywhere, online, offline, listening an audiobook with your mp3 player while you walk or jog;
What
only the information you REALLY find valuable for yourself. The same idea, over and over, will not make you richer and higher in personal excellence. You have to view the same stuff from different points of view, interact with people over it (that’s why bloggers are a great deal for you, and you could also become one!). Know people, make friends, be sure to interact, and not only to read, but also to reflect, think, imagine, ask for suggestions and explanation. Digital or paper books are great occasions to interact with others. Normally, in free ebooks you will the most useful information out there, without any need to pay.
Why should I choose free eBooks?
Because they contain valuable information, cleaned from all the clutter we are so accustomed to, simplified and accessible from anywhere, usable by everyone!
The same concept of free sharing that lays behind the concept of open source.
And most of all.. I choose free eBooks because they are free!!
Also, If you are writing a book, you must do me a favor
First of all, you have to write it about socially useful things. If what you’re talking about is totally useless information or the information you’re trying to include is pointless, just trash it immediately into your pastebin! (digital or physical, it doesn’t make any difference!:) ) Always have an end in mind, and try to use all the means you have to get there!Instead, before starting the writing process, make sure you read this wonderful post by Dusti Arab, hosted on her Minimalist Adventures. You can join her at her new site, Undefinable You.
I know, I know, this is a pretty philosophical post, but I think it is essential to evaluate the real kind of information we’re consuming from day to day. From reading really useful stuff for ourselves, we can extend the habit of recognizing useful from useless information; living a richer life, full of joy and freedom.