Upgrade your brain’s operating system: the closest thing to a superpower you can have
Books are underrated as a source of information — unlike most online resources, including most internet articles, they are comprehensive and very carefully written to eloquently condense useful information on a specific subject into a set number of pages.
Internet articles are ephemeral and almost always lack the kind of depth you need to fully understand the fundamentals of a subject. Think of good books as the trunk and thickest branches of a knowledge tree — internet resources usually only give you the leaves, or at best a thin branch.
As far as learning from them goes, most of it comes through practice and focus.
For one, to read effectively (i.e. to read and absorb the information), you really need to be in a distraction-free environment.
And like almost anything, the more you do it, the more effective at it you get. The more you read, the more your vocabulary and understanding increases, in a virtuous cycle.
Whatever you think of Elon Musk, almost everyone would agree that he has both an incredible breadth and depth of knowledge in a number of complex fields. He has done long before being surrounded by some of the best and brightest minds in his fledging companies, and he credits this to reading books.
His family, and he himself, frequently note how much of a voracious reader he was growing up, with an obsessive compulsion to consume information, reading from a very young age. He would have got pretty adept at it, which undoubtedly also contributed to his infamous laser sharp focus.
Attention is one of the prime currencies of the 21st century. Everyone wants it: almost every product and service through every possible device and channel you can imagine is vying for your time.
As such you have more choices in how you spend your time than any previous generation — it’s effortless to get distracted — the internet’s bite-sized and shallow content is incredibly alluring when you have a busy schedule. So how do you make time for whole book? Especially one that isn’t about wizards or love stories in space.
Like anything of this nature, it’s about having some self control, setting priorities, and using the time you have more wisely.
I like to carry around a Kindle Paperwhite, which fits snugly into my (and most other) coat pockets, loaded with dozens of non-fiction books. This gets whipped out during any extended period where I have nothing in particular to do, like when commuting or otherwise travelling, waiting for someone who’s late, or when in a long line to get served at the bank or coffee shop.
Most people use this time to aimlessly browse social media on their phone — why not use this time to learn instead?
Think of books as legal notropics — without the side effects. You are enhancing your brain’s operating system with every useful book. As Elon Musk demonstrates — information really is power.
Whilst the internet is a revolutionary shift change how we consume and share knowledge, books — whether physical or digital form — are here to stay.
Happy reading!
This article is an extension of an answer I wrote on Quora.
