Commencing My Book Summary Series
Yesterday, I spilled the tea on the evolution of my reading journey — from “why bother reading” to “why can’t I just build a nest with my books?” While I wrote about reading just for the sake of reading, I also love reading for two other reasons: understanding some new concepts, and remembering stuff in the future.
So, how do I keep these mind nuggets intact? Well, I rely on a common yet effective technique of note-taking! One immediate benefit of note-taking is you don’t even have to go back to it. Just making a note about something makes your brain remember it more. (Try this!) And if you still fail with this memory trick, you can always go back to these notes. Plus, who knows? Those scribbles might just transform into gripping stories someday. Which, in my case, is today!
I’m diving into a book summary series, pulling tales from my notes and memories. But before I embark on this journey, let me outline my three reasons for this endeavor.
Reason 1: Documenting the Journey
First things first, I’m writing to immortalise my notes (trusting WordPress on this!), because let’s face it, phone notes are just not loyal. This way, I also get to share with others and my future self. One fun way to know about yourself is to read your past stories. It’s like sifting through old diaries, as you get to learn about your younger self and the journey that brought you here. (Try this!)
Reason 2: Identifying the knowledge gap
See, our brain is good at connecting the dots, and more often than not, it is quite amazing at doing so. However, there’s one downside: sometimes in doing so, it jumps across important dots and pieces, and gives us the illusion of knowledge. It’s only when you sit down and write you discover the gaps in your knowledge. (I can already anticipate lots of these gaps from tomorrow!)
Reason 3: Improving the Art of Abstraction
In a world that’s practically drowning in information, it’s an important skill to extract key concepts and principles, without being bogged down in detail. Writing a book summary is one fun way to learn it. What’s even more enjoyable is transferring knowledge from one domain to another, like moving the concept of Minimalism from your wardrobe collection to your kitchen recipes. Or applying the concept of space in physics to your external social circle and inner self, even if it sometimes makes sense to you only (as in the examples I’ve given). And, of course, one can always dream of everything eventually coming together. (Like, all that exists is Brahman!)
Lastly, before I sign off today, let me offer a quick disclaimer about the upcoming series. Unlike meticulous summaries that provide a thorough overview of a book, my stories will be more of a personal takeaway. That way, I might even focus on just one or two concepts from the book that I found interesting or applicable. Above all, it will be my honest, unfiltered take filled with question marks and still lingering confusion.
So, meet you tomorrow with my first summary!
Originally published at http://nepaliwanderer.com on February 2, 2024.
