Do you remember what you ate seven days back? How about one month ago?

You may not remember what food you had in the past, but all of it has contributed to your present health. Similarly, even if you cannot quote specific passages from a book you read, your mind absorbs it all, making it a part of your life. In a way, reading is like eating.

As you go on learning new things, you will notice that everything differs in value density. Some content (book, video, podcast, etc.) gives you more value per unit than others, which you can measure as words/minute, or concepts/page, etc. It derives from the old idea of signal-vs-noise. And if you want to learn faster (and better) then you should pick signal dense content. Value is subjective, as what is valuable to a poet might not be equally valuable to a physician, but here are two general rules you can apply:

1. Read less

This is the most effective way. All information will shape your psyche, so in the long run, you should try to reduce the volume of noisy content in your mind. Before you commit to any book, take out 10-15 minutes to skim the table of contents, headings, and subheadings. Feel free to read a few pages of a section that interests you. This way, you can assess how valuable it is.

Life is too short to waste on average books. As soon as you realize a book is not value-dense, quit it without shame.

See what is recommended by the people you look up to. Try to check many books but commit to reading very few of them. As Nassim Taleb puts it: “A good book gets better at the second reading. A great book at the third. Any book not worth rereading isn’t worth reading.”

2. Read more

A continuation of the previous one, the idea is to read great things more than once. By definition, if something is value dense, chances are that you will not understand everything in one go. In fact, some might change in meaning to you as you get older, seeing more of what life has to offer.

Karl Popper puts it nicely, “Anything worth reading is not only worth reading twice but worth reading again and again. If a book is worthwhile, then you will always be able to make new discoveries in it and find things in it that you didn’t notice before, even though you have read it many times.”

Want a starting point? The best works are already classics and just a search away. There must be some value in them if they have stood the test of time. So start with the oldest classics and work your way through.

Read less to read more 😊