I Thought Reading More Books Would Make Me Smarter — It Didn’t
Lessons from a stupid idea
A few years ago, I got a “great” idea.
“What if I read many books? Like 2–3 weekly. It sounds like a lot, but I’ll become way smarter!” — I thought. So I gave it a try. I was young, studying for my undergraduate degree, during the pandemic.
Why not?
There wasn’t much else I could do anyway.
I kept the pace from June to December 2020. I remember reading all non-fiction books, many about economics. Did I get smarter? Actually, no. In fact, I couldn’t remember most of what I had read.
My “smart” plan turned out to be … stupid.
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Why Reading More Doesn’t Make You Smarter
I will avoid defining intelligence.
I want to focus on learning.
Usually, we think about learning as something passive. Many believe we can just read a blog or a book, watch a documentary or a YouTube video, and “learn.” When studying, many think that rereading their notes or highlights is enough.
But is that true learning?
No, it is not.
Learning happens when we link information from our short-term to our long-term memory. When we watch or read something, what we’re doing is keeping that information in our short-term memory.
There, it will stay for minutes, hours, or a few days at its best.
Then, that information vanishes.
Our brains are forgetting machines. The lesson from this is that learning doesn’t work by trying to consume big data and expect our cognition to organize and store it somehow, somewhere.
Learning happens when we actively and effortfully recall information. This is the key to stick data from short-term to long-term memory.
That’s why reading hundreds of books will not necessarily make you smarter. I do think it can improve your reading, though. But calling that learning and acquiring more knowledge is misleading.
Replace this:
Prioritizing quantity.
Read to increase your book list.
Read more, hoping it sticks to your memory.
Overloading your brain with information in long reading sessions.
Read whatever is in your list.
With this:
Prioritizing quality.
Read to improve your knowledge.
Read less, but recall more.
Read in small chunks and relax more to consolidate better.
Read books that have the potential to be meaningful for you.
What Do I Do Instead?
I read less. I recall more.
I choose quality over quantity.
Reading more can be destructive because it overflows your brain with information. A better strategy, then, is reading books at a slower pace, but taking notes about it, discussing it with yourself or other colleagues, etc.
I give time for my brain to consume this information.
And consolidate it.
I recall the book when criticizing or writing an article about it, etc. And this process, although slower and less fancy than reading 3 books weekly, makes me remember the content better.
In the past, I used to read more but remember less.
Now, I read less but remember more.
That’s what matters.
Ultra-learning saved my career.
It helped me learn anything without overstudying or overworking. But remember, each person has a different life. Perhaps you work full-time and also study. Or maybe you have a family, etc.
Be reasonable, and don’t fall into toxic productivity.
Here are some last recommendations:
Don’t compare yourself with others. Take your time.
This is not a competition. This is about you. Make it fun and healthy.
Please take care of yourself. That’s the most important thing!
Now it is your turn.
What are you going to learn next?
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Good insights
I relate to this. Sometimes I get too caught up in the statistics, wanting to see visual results - but the number of books I've finished is only meaningful if I remember their importance.