How to read a book?
An essential part of improving your thinking skills is actively enhancing your reading skills. One of the classic books on the topic is How to read a book by Mortimer Adler. The book details several techniques and exercises to enhance this skill. I recommend reading the whole book, but in the current article, I will focus on the author's definition of being an active reader as an example of a question model.
How to be an active reader?
The book defines the process of reading while asking and answering the following four questions:
What is the book about as a whole?
You must try to discover the leading theme of the book and how the author develops this theme in an orderly way, by subdividing it into its essential subordinate themes or topics.
What is being said in detail and how?
You must try to discover the main ideas, assertions, and arguments that constitute the author's particular message.
Is the book true, in whole or part?
You can only answer this question once you have answered the first two. You have to know what is being said, before you can decide whether it is true or not. When you understand, you are obligated to make up your mind. Knowing the author's mind is not enough.
What of it?
If the book has given you information, you must ask about its significance. Why does the author think it is essential to know these things? Is it necessary for you to know them? Moreover, if the book has not only informed you, but also enlightened you, ask What else follows?.
Analysis
Let us analyse the questions and their order. The most essential question What of it? is the last. This makes sense from the perspective that it can only be answered after reading the book. However, given that time is scarce and many interesting books are out there, we must consider what questions should be asked before reading. There are many candidates, but a good one is Why should I read this?. We read books for various reasons: to educate ourselves, relax or further our careers, and the objectives differ. For example, when reading a novel, you want to have a good feeling, whereas when reading a philosophy book, you want to improve your philosophy. Once the objectives have been determined, you can continue to choose the best book to read. To guide your choice, you can use tools like reviews and recommendations and browse through the book index.
Furthermore, from an erotetic perspective, the last question, What of it? would only be possible to answer by answering the previous question, Is the book true, in whole or part? To answer the question Is the book true, in whole or part? you first need to know what it says in detail. The order between the two first questions, What is the book about as a whole? and What is being said in detail and how? does not follow the same appeal to logic. Instead, the ordering is based on another principle of first trying to understand the big picture before diving into the details.
Example
As an example of how to use the questions in the book, let us apply them to the book itself.
What is the book about as a whole?
The first word in the title How to read a book? is the interrogative word how, suggesting that the book is about a method. The word how is often used to understand/model causal relationships between inputs and output and hence indicates that the book is about the method/process of how to process information. The later part, "read a rook", specifies that the method is applied to reading and, specifically, reading books. The input is, in part, the text, book, or information set. The other part is the beliefs, emotions, mental models, goals and objectives you have before reading the book, which are used in the process. The output of reading is the revision of beliefs, new knowledge, and emotional state changes, and hopefully, the enabled actions that you can take.
The book's main argument is that most people read passively without analysing and asking questions, resulting in a superficial understanding with poor recall. By asking questions while reading and critically reflecting on the information, the reader can become an active reader, which can help improve their understanding and, thereby, their beliefs, knowledge and ultimately, their actions.
What is being said in detail and how?
The book presents a four-step process:
- Overview: Start with the big picture by reading the title, table of contents, and introduction.
- Analysis: Ask questions about the text, such as the main point, the author's main arguments, the evidence provided to support those arguments, and the validity of those arguments.
- Synthesis: Connect the information in the text with what you already know.
- Evaluation: Consider the strengths and weaknesses of the author's arguments, as well as the implications of the text for your thinking.
Is the book true, in whole or part?
The main argument in the book that reading should be an active process is well supported and true as a whole. As an example, when reading more challenging material, I often use mindmaps to take notes while reading and as an aide when preparing for talks and presentations.
What of it?
The techniques and questions in the book will help you assimilate information more quickly with better comprehension and recall. In today's society, with a short information half-life, being an active reader is a must.
Even more important than becoming an active reader is how to become an active information processor, which will be the topic of another coming blog post, How to process information?.