How To Read Deeper - The Importance of a Commonplace Book | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Creating and utilizing a common placebook, like Notion, can help deepen your understanding and retention of books and critical reflections.

Key Insights

• 📚 The quality of reading is more important than the quantity. It's better to have a deep understanding of a few books than to read many without comprehension.
• 🧠 The human brain is not a computer and is prone to forgetting information. Keeping a common placebook or personal encyclopedia is essential for retaining critical insights from books.
• 📝 Writing down personal reflections and interconnections between books helps deepen understanding and prevents forgetting important insights.
• 📖 A common placebook acts as a depository for notes and reflections on books, allowing for efficient organization and storage of information that the brain may forget.
• 🔍 Onenote is a useful tool for note-taking, but it can be scattered and inefficient for organizing ideas. Notion, an all-in-one productivity system, offers a more effective way to compile book notes.
• 💡 Notion allows for customization and organization of book notes, including tags, labels, and expansion of notes within each book section. It serves as a central system for managing book-related information.
• 📱 Notion is accessible on both computer and phone, allowing for easy documenting of random thoughts and ideas on the go.
• 🧠 Trusting the brain to remember everything is unreliable. Having a system like Notion or any other note-taking app is crucial for recording and organizing ideas to avoid forgetting valuable insights.

Transcript

now here's a personal pet peeve of mine i don't like people who rave on on and on and on about you know i've read a hundred books this year if you place a heavier emphasis on a quantity over quality now please turn off this video personally i think the quality of reading is much more important at a quantity of reading you know if you've watched any... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: Why is focusing on quantity of reading risky?

Focusing on the quantity of books read can lead to a lack of understanding and a second degree of ignorance, where knowledge is obtained but not comprehended.

Q: What is a common placebook and how can it enhance reading?

A common placebook is a personal encyclopedia and repository for critical reflections, insights, and interconnections between books, allowing for a deeper reading experience.

Q: How does the human brain impact our ability to remember critical insights from books?

The human brain is not a reliable storage device for complex information and tends to forget important details, making a system like a common placebook necessary to retain insights.

Q: What are the benefits of using Notion as a common placebook?

Notion is an all-in-one productivity system that allows for effective organization and storage of book notes, ideas, and references, enhancing the reading experience and creative output.

A common placebook is a personal encyclopedia where you store critical reflections, personal insights, and interconnections between books. It serves as a repository of all the valuable information you've gathered from your reading, ensuring that you don't forget important insights or lose track of your thoughts. By utilizing a system like Notion, you can efficiently organize and access this information, enhancing your reading experience and deepening your understanding of the books you read.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Quantity of reading is less important than quality; the goal should be to understand and deeply engage with books.

• Commonplace books, like Notion, serve as a repository for critical reflections, personal insights, and interconnections between books.

• Utilizing a system like Notion can help organize and store information effectively, leading to a deeper reading experience.