Books recommended in this video: How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman Writing to Learn by William Zinsser Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens
@@JoelSnape1 I joined that program as well, and it was basically a rundown of the seminal texts of Western civilization - think Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Descartes, and so on. The big dense literary, philosophical, political, historical, and scientific books that form the intellectual and cultural cornerstone of the West.
Great suggestions! Make It Stick is the book I also like recommending as an intro to learning how to learn, it really is a good summary of what we currently know to be effective! If you liked it, you might like The ABCs of How We Learn. It's basically the alphabet of learning concepts (1 letter = 1 concept) that goes little bit more in-depth into all of this. Amusing Ourselves to Death has been on my list for a while, too. I got it a couple of years ago on Kindle, still haven't gotten to it though, and so has Writing to Learn. Good reminders!
I still find How to Read a Book as shockingly overrated. I know I’m in the minority, but it genuinely feels like Adler says very little, yet does it in a self-aggrandizing way.
I agree, I think an essay with dot points would have been sufficient. Like so many "self help" books, it's unnecessarily long and wordy. So many self help authors have a few simple ideas which they pad out into a book. It's obvious why of course. Cheers.
I get the points here, but I think an interesting argument (which I've got from Ezra Klein) is that it's very easy to understand the ARGUMENT most non fiction books make very easily, but the value of a good (non padded) self help book is that it forces you to sit with its ideas, which is what helps you make connections between them. In the case of the Adler I do think it's long (though an easy read), but the way he backs up his points with examples from the classics (eg if you think you understand Aristotle's theory of the golden mean, you should be able to extrapolate from it) takes it beyond an essay
DROSAGG I really love you work because you took out time to help me when i contacted you, my ex called me this afternoon and told me he's very sorry for everything that he wants to come back horne and I'm happy thank you sir
If you subscribed to my newsletter, you'd have been able to read these books sooner: joelsnape.substack.com/
Books recommended in this video:
How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
Writing to Learn by William Zinsser
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens
Now do the timestamps please 😅
@@JoelSnape1 Haha this is the first time I've seen a creator basically encourage someone to help viewers end up with less watch time.
Yes! "How to Read a Book" is a must. When I joined a Great Books reading program we were required to read that book first.
Oh that's brill! What else was on there?
Where was that program? Was it online? Anyone could get in?
@@JoelSnape1 I joined that program as well, and it was basically a rundown of the seminal texts of Western civilization - think Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Descartes, and so on. The big dense literary, philosophical, political, historical, and scientific books that form the intellectual and cultural cornerstone of the West.
Thanks for sharing these book summaries, it is exactly the types of books I am interested in.
Glad it's helpful!
I have How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom. I guess i should've be surprised that there are multiple books on the topic.
Super video Joel! Thank you for sharing it. I will be reading all of these books. Best wishes for 2025!
Oh wow that's a great vote of confidence! Hope you enjoy them, all the best to you too!
Yujiro in the background, take my like
I have, and I appreciate it
Great books 😊
They are!
Good suggestions!, I tend to avoid books, but these look like they are well worth checking out.
Especially Writing To Learn.
(& +1 for Leg Locks 🤝)
Thanks! And yeah, my understanding of them really went up when I forced myself to put it into my own words rather than just paraphrasing Danaher
I love "How to Read a Book". I own two copies and recommend it to every parent I know. Our nation's educational system sucks, so I'm doing my part 😂
Books I wish I HAD read earlier.... 😖
Great suggestions! Make It Stick is the book I also like recommending as an intro to learning how to learn, it really is a good summary of what we currently know to be effective! If you liked it, you might like The ABCs of How We Learn. It's basically the alphabet of learning concepts (1 letter = 1 concept) that goes little bit more in-depth into all of this.
Amusing Ourselves to Death has been on my list for a while, too. I got it a couple of years ago on Kindle, still haven't gotten to it though, and so has Writing to Learn. Good reminders!
I still find How to Read a Book as shockingly overrated. I know I’m in the minority, but it genuinely feels like Adler says very little, yet does it in a self-aggrandizing way.
I agree, I think an essay with dot points would have been sufficient. Like so many "self help" books, it's unnecessarily long and wordy. So many self help authors have a few simple ideas which they pad out into a book. It's obvious why of course. Cheers.
I get the points here, but I think an interesting argument (which I've got from Ezra Klein) is that it's very easy to understand the ARGUMENT most non fiction books make very easily, but the value of a good (non padded) self help book is that it forces you to sit with its ideas, which is what helps you make connections between them. In the case of the Adler I do think it's long (though an easy read), but the way he backs up his points with examples from the classics (eg if you think you understand Aristotle's theory of the golden mean, you should be able to extrapolate from it) takes it beyond an essay
@@JoelSnape1 yes, very good points. Makes me reconsider.
🤦
DROSAGG I really love you work because you took out time to help me when i contacted you, my ex called me this afternoon and told me he's very sorry for everything that he wants to come back horne and I'm happy thank you sir