How arrogant would you have to be to think you’ve gained everything from a book on your first reading?
A wildly intelligent friend once said this to me and it struck home. A seemingly obvious point I’d ignored for years changed my approach to reading in a way that has considerably improved my life. If you already reread books regularly, feel free to skip this. If you’re like the old me who thought “Why would I reread a book when there are so many amazing books I haven’t yet read” then read on.
I read for enjoyment and to learn things, often both at the same time. What follows assumes you do the same.
Rereading to reinforce
We can all agree that reading is one of the best ways to learn anything, whether it’s clearly a lesson from a textbook, or we’re learning to empathise with a character in a novel.
To learn something from a book we don’t need to realise we are learning anything. We also know that to thoroughly learn a concept we should repeatedly reinforce it so our brain strengthens those neural pathways.
The more we learn about mathematical thinking, the more our brain views the world through the lens of mathematics. Repetition shapes thinking. The books we revisit shape the lens through which we see the world. You read a book that you learned an important lesson from, why would you not return to it 6 months or a year later and repeat that lesson to strengthen its hold? Read a book, learn something important, reinforce it later and internalise the lesson more thoroughly.
Why shouldn’t I read another book on the same subject? You absolutely should, and it will broaden your knowledge of a subject, but it won’t reinforce quite the same lesson as before.
Many subjects have seminal books and the others are merely a watered down or derivative version of the main text. If you learned well from the main text then stick to the main text. If not then another book on the same subject will be worded in a way that resonates with you. Stick with that book then and reread it when you want to reinforce the lesson.
Rereading to learn anew
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