Engage With Ideas

Reading is not enough.

Unless you're reading for pleasure, and not for deep understanding of complex ideas, or for converting knowledge into a daily routine or behavior.

Even rereading lacks the power to make ideas penetrate deep into subconscious.

"Rereading is dangerous because of the mere exposure effect," writes Sonke Ahrens. "Rereading and reviewing does not confront us with the things we haven't learned yet, although it makes us feel like we have."

What works?

I've been reading a lot of nonfiction books for seven years now. Books on business, psychology, marketing, and many subjects that interest me. Yes, I discovered a lot of ideas. But most of them, I forgot.

I think I love reading and discovering ideas more than the 'doing'. But at some point, I need to do something with what I'm learning. Or else, ideas will be as good as I've never had them.

In my previous blogpost, I've written about one of the most effective ways to take notes, to capture ideas, but what 's next after capturing ideas? To collect ideas is one thing; to make sense of them is another.

So how can we make sense of ideas we're collecting? What can we do to influence optimal results?

From Lee Kuan Yew:

"Find out what works, then do it."

Here's what works for these great minds:

From Charlie Munger:

“When people gave me a good idea and I could see it was a great idea, I quickly mastered it and started using it for the rest of my life. You’d say that everybody does that in their education but I don’t think everybody does.”

Charlie Munger advocates having a broader theoretical toolbox. He collects the most powerful mental models from several disciplines and relates them with his experiences. This helps him understand human behavior and the market which results in better decisions.

From Niklas Luhmann:

“I don’t just read to collect information. I read to hunt for what develops my thinking.”

Find a way to engage with the idea that resonates with you. Make connections to what you already know. How does it develop your thinking? Does it support an existing argument you are having? Does it oppose? What questions in your mind pop up? Comments?

From Richard Feynman:

To use an idea, you have to understand it first. Richard Feynman’s way of knowing if he understands an idea is by teaching it.

You cannot explain what you don’t understand. Teaching an idea uncovers weak links in your understanding, so you discover what to read more about.

From Ryan Holiday:

“I love reading more than almost anything, but even I’ll admit that it would be a waste of time if I just let it accumulate in my head.

More than that, I wouldn’t truly know what I’d read because I’d never put myself out there, applied it, or made connections.”

Ryan sprinkles quotes from the books he read into his writing. He collects ideas to create. He reads books to write.

From Jordan Peterson:

"You need to learn to think. The best way to learn critical thinking is to learn how to write. If you can think and speak and write, you are absolutely deadly! It's the most powerful weapon you can possess."

If it’s a complex set of ideas, Jordan Peterson recommends writing an essay. The goal is to formulate a coherent and organized set of ideas about something important to you - an idea you want to wield to your advantage.

What do these accomplished men have in common?

They don't just collect knowledge or ideas. They find ways to relate those ideas to their experiences and to their current knowledge, so they can make sense of them. They believe that ideas have zero value unless used or acted upon.

How can you be like them?

If in the past you rarely do something from what you're learning, forgive yourself, and move on. Focus on what you can do now.

If you encounter an idea that resonates with you, find a way to engage with it. The more you do it, the more you can harness its power to spark a new idea, or sharpen your thinking. Use it. Teach it. Write about it.

You’re already doing this both intuitively or consciously. The goal is to do it more in line with your priority.