Lost article on nonlinear reading techniques
July 10, 2011 2:36 PM Subscribe
Seeking an article or blog post I read once about, er, nonlinear reading technique.
The author describes their method of reading books nonlinearly, by directed skimming (rather than cover-to-cover). Read preface, conclusion, table of contents; dip into specific chapters skimming for key paragraphs; and so on.
There was specific mention of trolling the index looking for words with a high number of page references. (I mention this only because I haven't seen this particular technique mentioned in any of the many webpages I've been able to find which describe similar methods, so it might help to identify the particular one I'm after.)
I think the author was a (present or former) graduate student in the humanities, and used this method in part to keep up with their reading load. They claimed that such techniques made it possible to understand a book in detail without having to read more than a relatively small fraction of it in detail. (I forget what fraction the author claimed, if indeed they did claim a specific fraction.)
One commenter wrote that the method was against everything they stood for in reading (or similar words), and another wrote that it was completely in accord with everything they stood for in reading. And, for the prize: I thought these comments were on Metafilter, but I can't find them.
The author describes their method of reading books nonlinearly, by directed skimming (rather than cover-to-cover). Read preface, conclusion, table of contents; dip into specific chapters skimming for key paragraphs; and so on.
There was specific mention of trolling the index looking for words with a high number of page references. (I mention this only because I haven't seen this particular technique mentioned in any of the many webpages I've been able to find which describe similar methods, so it might help to identify the particular one I'm after.)
I think the author was a (present or former) graduate student in the humanities, and used this method in part to keep up with their reading load. They claimed that such techniques made it possible to understand a book in detail without having to read more than a relatively small fraction of it in detail. (I forget what fraction the author claimed, if indeed they did claim a specific fraction.)
One commenter wrote that the method was against everything they stood for in reading (or similar words), and another wrote that it was completely in accord with everything they stood for in reading. And, for the prize: I thought these comments were on Metafilter, but I can't find them.
Did it come out of a post on the blue? Perhaps this comment or some other part of the same thread.
posted by sardonyx at 5:28 PM on July 10, 2011
posted by sardonyx at 5:28 PM on July 10, 2011
Response by poster: sardonyx: I thought it came from a post on the blue, but can't locate any such post. It's not in the thread you link to, nor is it linked to in a comment there.
posted by stebulus at 8:39 PM on July 10, 2011
posted by stebulus at 8:39 PM on July 10, 2011
Best answer: Found it: How to read a (good) book in an hour, on Savage Minds.
(Somehow trying to furnish examples in a response to your answer, Ironmouth, got me the right search terms to find this AskMe question from 2007, which linked to this 2005 comment by LarryC as an example of such strategies under the name "How to Read a Book in One Hour", and that phrase made Google give up the Savage Minds post. So, um, thanks!)
posted by stebulus at 9:11 PM on July 10, 2011 [6 favorites]
(Somehow trying to furnish examples in a response to your answer, Ironmouth, got me the right search terms to find this AskMe question from 2007, which linked to this 2005 comment by LarryC as an example of such strategies under the name "How to Read a Book in One Hour", and that phrase made Google give up the Savage Minds post. So, um, thanks!)
posted by stebulus at 9:11 PM on July 10, 2011 [6 favorites]
Even though I wasn't any help, I'm glad you found it.
posted by sardonyx at 10:04 PM on July 10, 2011
posted by sardonyx at 10:04 PM on July 10, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
"Gutting" turned out to be reading the intro, the conclusion, reading key chapters, and then skimming the intros and conclusions of the other chapters. I got it down pretty fast.
posted by Ironmouth at 2:50 PM on July 10, 2011 [1 favorite]