Ask HN: How do you remember what you have read in a book?
How do you remember what you have read in a book and how do you act on that?
43 comments
“I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wow. I came to say this and got a quote from a famous guy
Cope.
You get out of books what you put into them. If you can't remember what you've read, it's because you didn't work to remember it (and that's okay). This quote is just cope for people to passively consume and feel good about it.
You get out of books what you put into them. If you can't remember what you've read, it's because you didn't work to remember it (and that's okay). This quote is just cope for people to passively consume and feel good about it.
What are you suggesting, exactly, Ralph Waldo Emerson has to cope with literature consumption wise?
This was before the era of the internet though, when "book" was the closest thing to a wikipedia page or a reel.
0x54MUR41 is pretty close to what I'd recommend as well but some other notes I'd add:
* Write a short summary of a chapter after reading it
* Don't be afraid to to write notes and highlight important lines in the book if you own it. You own it so make it yours! If you do want to avoid marking it up 3m makes some nice transparent post it's that I find work well (https://www.post-it.com/3M/en_US/p/d/cbgbjrus3149/)
* Before reading the book do you have a specific reason for doing so? If so look at the index at the back and read the sections that are specifically relevant first so that you will have some repetition reading the content.
For me personally I read a lot of non-fiction and like to have the books as reference material so 75% of the books I own are physical. When I read them I highlight important / relevant passages to me and possible make notes in the side margins if I find it relates to another book I have read and remember.
After finishing the book I'll eventually type out the relevant lines I found then and put them on my personal site for easy referencing for my self. This is doubly helpful as it means I'll often re-read the book down the line further reinforcing what I've read. I do have quite the backlog for this but it equally means that if I need to go back looking for a specific snippet on something I likely have it highlighted
I'd also second the recommendation for "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer J. Adler https://www.amazon.ca/How-Read-Book-Mortimer-Adler/dp/067121...
* Write a short summary of a chapter after reading it
* Don't be afraid to to write notes and highlight important lines in the book if you own it. You own it so make it yours! If you do want to avoid marking it up 3m makes some nice transparent post it's that I find work well (https://www.post-it.com/3M/en_US/p/d/cbgbjrus3149/)
* Before reading the book do you have a specific reason for doing so? If so look at the index at the back and read the sections that are specifically relevant first so that you will have some repetition reading the content.
For me personally I read a lot of non-fiction and like to have the books as reference material so 75% of the books I own are physical. When I read them I highlight important / relevant passages to me and possible make notes in the side margins if I find it relates to another book I have read and remember.
After finishing the book I'll eventually type out the relevant lines I found then and put them on my personal site for easy referencing for my self. This is doubly helpful as it means I'll often re-read the book down the line further reinforcing what I've read. I do have quite the backlog for this but it equally means that if I need to go back looking for a specific snippet on something I likely have it highlighted
I'd also second the recommendation for "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer J. Adler https://www.amazon.ca/How-Read-Book-Mortimer-Adler/dp/067121...
Instead of trying to remember the literal content of the book, I try to remember the concepts.
Additionally, I don't worry about trying to remember every little detail. I also don't really take notes.
I draw a flow chart of key words as I'm reading. This does two things: 1) It keeps you active, which helps prevent your mind from wandering while reading 2) it gives a roadmap of what you read. Once you filled a page with your flow chart, stop and visit each node and recite how much you're able to remember. Star the items you can't recall and either go back and review that material or move on and come back to review later.
Part of what I'm realizing creating the flow chart does as I'm writing this, is it helps you differentiate between what was easy to remember and what was not. Also, don't try to get fancy with the flow chart, just draw basic circles (nodes) and directed edges. The flow chart should be a DAG, but avoid branching as much as possible.
Additionally, I don't worry about trying to remember every little detail. I also don't really take notes.
I draw a flow chart of key words as I'm reading. This does two things: 1) It keeps you active, which helps prevent your mind from wandering while reading 2) it gives a roadmap of what you read. Once you filled a page with your flow chart, stop and visit each node and recite how much you're able to remember. Star the items you can't recall and either go back and review that material or move on and come back to review later.
Part of what I'm realizing creating the flow chart does as I'm writing this, is it helps you differentiate between what was easy to remember and what was not. Also, don't try to get fancy with the flow chart, just draw basic circles (nodes) and directed edges. The flow chart should be a DAG, but avoid branching as much as possible.
I trust my subconscious and conscious mind to filter what is really relevant and to keep it in the right part of the memory.
Most of the non fiction books are watered down garbage anyway. And professional ones you read when you have a specific need to apply new knowledge.
And fiction ones you read for the pleasure.
There is no point in forcing yourself to memorize a book. Unless you naturally do it or feel like doing it.
Most of the non fiction books are watered down garbage anyway. And professional ones you read when you have a specific need to apply new knowledge.
And fiction ones you read for the pleasure.
There is no point in forcing yourself to memorize a book. Unless you naturally do it or feel like doing it.
which non-fiction books did you find valuable?
Bible (the non fiction parts of it) and no more than dozen others I don’t recall titles until im in relevant context.
Managing the Design Factory - is ine example of what I classify as professional literature, same category i put that huge red XSLT book into :)
Managing the Design Factory - is ine example of what I classify as professional literature, same category i put that huge red XSLT book into :)
"...Bible (the non fiction parts..."
How do you spot the "non fiction parts"?
I like the King James Bible for the language and the stories but I think all of it is fiction.
How do you spot the "non fiction parts"?
I like the King James Bible for the language and the stories but I think all of it is fiction.
I mean all the moral, ethical, leadership and other lessons about human nature etc.
It can’t all be fiction because at least torah part was partially proven correct historically and archeologically. But that’s not my point.
It can’t all be fiction because at least torah part was partially proven correct historically and archeologically. But that’s not my point.
I think there are multiple ways to do it. These are what I can think of.
* Re-read the books
* Summarize the book in one sentence or a short paragraph
* Create or visualize the idea or important points in the books, like https://sketches.sachachua.com/static/2022-08-03-01%20Four%2...
Last but not least, I recommend to read a book called "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer J. Adler. Different books have different strategies to read.
* Re-read the books
* Summarize the book in one sentence or a short paragraph
* Create or visualize the idea or important points in the books, like https://sketches.sachachua.com/static/2022-08-03-01%20Four%2...
Last but not least, I recommend to read a book called "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer J. Adler. Different books have different strategies to read.
I read multiple books on a subject. Reading multiple books gives them significantly more context that helps place each fact. I relate them to other things I read and know as well.
Multiple books by an author if it’s fiction/poetry works similarly but that’s more about deepening my appreciation than recall.
Multiple books by an author if it’s fiction/poetry works similarly but that’s more about deepening my appreciation than recall.
1. I highlight important passages in the book.
2. I paraphrase and write down the most important passages in my notes. Paraphrasing is important for memorization and understanding for me.
3. I go back and read highlights after some time and repeat the process.
2. I paraphrase and write down the most important passages in my notes. Paraphrasing is important for memorization and understanding for me.
3. I go back and read highlights after some time and repeat the process.
I'll take a step back, why do you need to remember what you have read in a book?
Adding to that: Write down what you want to get out of the book, for example "Learn how to do X" or "Understand how Y works". This turns passive reading into actively looking for information.
It also helps to work with the ideas in other ways while reading (like taking notes, creating presentations, or writing programs).
I'm currently reading about production scheduling and in parallel writing a toy production scheduling system to make the concepts "click".
It also helps to work with the ideas in other ways while reading (like taking notes, creating presentations, or writing programs).
I'm currently reading about production scheduling and in parallel writing a toy production scheduling system to make the concepts "click".
I asked this mostly for self help books, like time management and others. Obv you would need to remember and act what was discussed in the book to get any benefit from that.
You're supposed to read these books multiple times. You read the first time to get a general understanding. And then you reference things within the book as they pop up as ideas you want to remember more about. No one remembers the details of anything they read the first time. It's about constant exposure. Some things however, are important for shaping your general thought processes, but not important enough to remember specifically
Why read a book if you're not going to remember it? If you want someone to tell you what to do, that's what articles and tweets are for. Books are meant to go into depth.
Books are the most efficient way to experience other people's living and learn from it. You don't memorize your past experiences just like you don't need to memorize a book to get influenced.
Yeah. I read it, and I remember what I remember.
It's kind of a circular definition, but the parts that are important enough to me to remember are the ones that I remember.
Now, if I'm trying to get some specific information, I will often write it down somewhere when I find it.
If it's something like language syntax, the pieces of syntax that I use all the time are the ones that I remember. The ones I don't, well, I know where the book is, and if I need that bit, I'll look it up when I need it.
It's kind of a circular definition, but the parts that are important enough to me to remember are the ones that I remember.
Now, if I'm trying to get some specific information, I will often write it down somewhere when I find it.
If it's something like language syntax, the pieces of syntax that I use all the time are the ones that I remember. The ones I don't, well, I know where the book is, and if I need that bit, I'll look it up when I need it.
I predominantly use ReadWise[1] for this. It has something called spaced repetition and gives me daily highlights from books and other sources.
I wrote about it here: https://rishikeshs.com/readwise-review/
[1] https://readwise.io/rishikesh/
I wrote about it here: https://rishikeshs.com/readwise-review/
[1] https://readwise.io/rishikesh/
If it impresses you enough, your brain will remember it. Especially for the overall "take home"-message, I'd trust the brain to remember it. While there is
a soft limit, you can add indefinitely at the risk of forgetting some (hopefully lesser) stuff.
If you want to improve the process beyond that, annotate the margins with a bar and stick a post it note on each page of the book that has something particularly noteworthy. I have a spatial memory, so I often know where in the book the page is that I'm looking for, and where on the page the quote was.
Some where detailed things you don't need to remember in perpetuity, you just need to remember e.g. the first author and year so you can look it up again once it's needed again. Some results will stick to your mind once you've looked them up a lot, so your brain can work like a "LRU cache" of sorts.
If you want to improve the process beyond that, annotate the margins with a bar and stick a post it note on each page of the book that has something particularly noteworthy. I have a spatial memory, so I often know where in the book the page is that I'm looking for, and where on the page the quote was.
Some where detailed things you don't need to remember in perpetuity, you just need to remember e.g. the first author and year so you can look it up again once it's needed again. Some results will stick to your mind once you've looked them up a lot, so your brain can work like a "LRU cache" of sorts.
I don’t remember everything I read in a book. It’s just the ideas that I get from it stick in my brain. It just expands my capacity to think and contemplate different things.
Certainly for some things I need to memorise a fact or something, but then it’s just literally a fact I focus on, and I use repetition to ensure I can recall later. But if just reading it in It’s entirety I’m unlikely to remember it all. Certain good books have content that is definitely far easier to recall. I put that down to the authors being good writers, or me being extra interested in the topic.
For me - it is a visceral thing, I don't try too hard to remember anything.
But I end up retaining some associations, a kind of mood, and I also tend to grasp the tendencies and attitudes of the author.
So in a way I read between the lines a lot. I am able to read with a kind of generosity of spirit (forgiving, listening, giving charitable interpretations, etc)
This way - I end up forming the most profitable kinds of memories - something that may help me live my own life and solve problems of interest better.
Reading transports you to a different reality than your present (in psychological/experiential dimension).
Which is very important for invention and such.
But I end up retaining some associations, a kind of mood, and I also tend to grasp the tendencies and attitudes of the author.
So in a way I read between the lines a lot. I am able to read with a kind of generosity of spirit (forgiving, listening, giving charitable interpretations, etc)
This way - I end up forming the most profitable kinds of memories - something that may help me live my own life and solve problems of interest better.
Reading transports you to a different reality than your present (in psychological/experiential dimension).
Which is very important for invention and such.
How do you remember what you have read in a book
Daydream about the narrative. If there is no cohesive narrative, create one in your daydreams.
and how do you act on that?
Play "pretend" about it, invite friend(s) - dress up, house, larp - immersion - have fun with it!
Daydream about the narrative. If there is no cohesive narrative, create one in your daydreams.
and how do you act on that?
Play "pretend" about it, invite friend(s) - dress up, house, larp - immersion - have fun with it!
[deleted]
If a book interests you you'll definitely remember it. Maybe not all the details but you'll for sure keep the main points.
If I’m learning from a textbook or something I take notes. If I’m learning to do something then I try to do the thing. Remembering the book isn’t important, learning to do the thing is important. If I’m reading for pleasure I just read.
I've noticed that individuals who put in extra effort to organize and remember information from a book are often content creators on platforms like YouTube. They frequently promote note-taking tools such as Notion or Obsidian.
I don't. I have a faint idea of some parts of the book and will remember only when re-reading.. then I'm like "oh yeah, I remember this part, very nice, hmm yeah - now I know right.."
Tacit knowledge. Do the book.
For non fiction that is usually obvious. If there are not set exercises then make some challenges up.
For fiction. Maybe a character map? Or make a list of characters and notes against each.
For non fiction that is usually obvious. If there are not set exercises then make some challenges up.
For fiction. Maybe a character map? Or make a list of characters and notes against each.
By relating the content of the book with real life examples and writing it down with my own explanation
How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler is a great resource on this topic.
After reading a book a few times, you start to notice things you missed previously. There's always some new detail.
Back when I was making gears I had a set of 3 of the books in the late Eric Flint's 1632 series I read in rotation over lunch breaks. It was slow enough due to the limited time that I'd have forgotten things enough to make it interesting again each time.
This is why churches teach the same lessons every year in a great cycle, the liturgical calendar, to get them to stick .
Back when I was making gears I had a set of 3 of the books in the late Eric Flint's 1632 series I read in rotation over lunch breaks. It was slow enough due to the limited time that I'd have forgotten things enough to make it interesting again each time.
This is why churches teach the same lessons every year in a great cycle, the liturgical calendar, to get them to stick .
you can highlight notes when using Google play books app and these get stored in Google Docs for easy access.
I implement it
There is reading for pleasure, and there is reading for learning.
The latter seems to be more like what you are asking about, and it is a more time consuming process compared to light reading. I've read tens of thousands of books at this point and remember most of the important bits (decades later).
It is a skill that requires some discipline as many things you will be reading about you will necessarily, not agree with, nor should you generally agree without significant vetting.
I haven't heard of a formalized process for what I do but many others with similar experiences seem to have reached this same process by parallel construction.
The gist is, you read things multiple times and you do different things after reading that have a synergistic effect. These things don't take a lot of time or effort, its mostly do it once wait some time do it again, revisit. You don't focus too much, just enough to remember; you want to eventually practice getting into a state of relaxed focus with precise control.
If you've ever played an instrument, you'll have gone through a lesson where you learn when you tense up you have less control, the moment you relax that control is much more precise. That is what you will eventually aim for, relaxed precision.
Every person forgets things on a fairly regular time curve that lengthens with each successful recall. This varies greatly between visual and auditory, and at most you can hold only 7 related connections in your head at any given time, aim for 5. There are various strategies you can use such as the Cicero memory technique (Mind Palace), or the Russian doll method of memory technique. These advanced methods aren't for everyone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgetting_curve
Remembering any complex subject usually involves a three stage process, and depends on the material being consumed.
Anything requiring a high amount of discernment and critical thinking (i.e. convincing fallacy/misleading lies/anything related to communism), should never be read hurriedly. There are structures that naturally bypass critical thinking, and back-tracking to re-read is entirely normal.
Speed reading also bypasses much of our critical thinking faculties and you don't want to accept something as true when its not, you run into more trouble unlearning things, and don't have the ability to recognize these things going at that speed. Exceptional speed readers may even turn written words into a film in their heads. Practicing to not speed read material under certain circumstances can be very difficult, but it provides many benefits and avoids pitfalls.
The following process for learning from reading can take a bit of practice if one has gotten into bad habits, or has never developed good habits because of learning/visual issues such as with dyslexia.
First step is you read through a chapter as quickly as possible. You segment into broad concept and detail, and you discard any details not wasting effort, your focus should be on how the main subjects connect to each other, or how they are associated. Its all about getting the structure of the overall context together.
Musk does the same thing but mentions it as branches and leaves. You won't be able to remember details if there is no context you can hang those on (or walk down).
Many other extremely intelligent people have discovered this process, it predates Musk.
When you are done, and have focused on the main topics to retain them, take a 20-30 minute break where you don't think about it at all, relax do something else unrelated, set an alarm if you have to. Then come back to it.
Try to recall what you just learnt. If you are successful, you mentally walk through it again an hour or two later, then 4 hours, you should have a good chance at remembering it the next day, and you do this for several days, then a week, by 3 weeks you should have it fairly permanently so long as you recall it every couple of months (it becomes easier).
Importantly, more time and over-practice doesn't really help, so long as you can remember it when prompted you can do anything else you want.
If you are having trouble coming up with the structure, think about how you would explain the concepts of a chapter like a paraphrase or summary of what's ahead that you need to pay attention to if you were asked to tell someone who hadn't read it, but no details.
Second read is all about the details, and how they relate to the context. You can do this alongside context, but it works better if context is developed firmly first (you can do more or less in parallel just not the same or related material, you'll notice its more difficult when its related because of destructive interferance; best example is when trying to learn different languages in parallel). You should encode what you learn in a positive form. Negative forms end up interfering destructively. A negative form would be something like do not do this, or do not not do this. Simplify it in a positive. Do this.
If you need to force yourself to forget something intentionally, by all means create a negative form and do the same process. Its the quickest way of unlearning certain things with a little practice.
This second read, you should focus on the details, and how they are connected to the context. Instead of memorizing the details, synthesize and paraphrase what you have learned and connect that with the main topic.
For truly dense books, you won't pick everything up without multiple reads. On the third read, and beyond include a list of questions you might be asked or ask yourself, related to the concepts covered. This develops intuition and flexibility so you can approach this subject matter from other related concepts which usually start in the form of a question. You fill in the gaps connecting the material. Each time you learn something new, you follow the basic recall process on the forgetting curve timetable.
After a time, with sufficient intelligence, associated information just comes unbidden. When you recall one thing, you tend to refresh the related others, eventually the nerves in your brain grow together and its mostly permanent recall.
Intelligence is at its core speed of thought, and wisdom is a combination of intelligence with memory that's been tempered by intuition.
Having a clean diet and exercise can also greatly impact recall and learning of material learned through books. You will be amazed by some of the useful things you'll find in books published in the 70s and prior.
To be able to think, one must risk being offensive. To be able to learn, one must risk being offended.
I hope you find this useful.
The latter seems to be more like what you are asking about, and it is a more time consuming process compared to light reading. I've read tens of thousands of books at this point and remember most of the important bits (decades later).
It is a skill that requires some discipline as many things you will be reading about you will necessarily, not agree with, nor should you generally agree without significant vetting.
I haven't heard of a formalized process for what I do but many others with similar experiences seem to have reached this same process by parallel construction.
The gist is, you read things multiple times and you do different things after reading that have a synergistic effect. These things don't take a lot of time or effort, its mostly do it once wait some time do it again, revisit. You don't focus too much, just enough to remember; you want to eventually practice getting into a state of relaxed focus with precise control.
If you've ever played an instrument, you'll have gone through a lesson where you learn when you tense up you have less control, the moment you relax that control is much more precise. That is what you will eventually aim for, relaxed precision.
Every person forgets things on a fairly regular time curve that lengthens with each successful recall. This varies greatly between visual and auditory, and at most you can hold only 7 related connections in your head at any given time, aim for 5. There are various strategies you can use such as the Cicero memory technique (Mind Palace), or the Russian doll method of memory technique. These advanced methods aren't for everyone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgetting_curve
Remembering any complex subject usually involves a three stage process, and depends on the material being consumed.
Anything requiring a high amount of discernment and critical thinking (i.e. convincing fallacy/misleading lies/anything related to communism), should never be read hurriedly. There are structures that naturally bypass critical thinking, and back-tracking to re-read is entirely normal.
Speed reading also bypasses much of our critical thinking faculties and you don't want to accept something as true when its not, you run into more trouble unlearning things, and don't have the ability to recognize these things going at that speed. Exceptional speed readers may even turn written words into a film in their heads. Practicing to not speed read material under certain circumstances can be very difficult, but it provides many benefits and avoids pitfalls.
The following process for learning from reading can take a bit of practice if one has gotten into bad habits, or has never developed good habits because of learning/visual issues such as with dyslexia.
First step is you read through a chapter as quickly as possible. You segment into broad concept and detail, and you discard any details not wasting effort, your focus should be on how the main subjects connect to each other, or how they are associated. Its all about getting the structure of the overall context together.
Musk does the same thing but mentions it as branches and leaves. You won't be able to remember details if there is no context you can hang those on (or walk down).
Many other extremely intelligent people have discovered this process, it predates Musk.
When you are done, and have focused on the main topics to retain them, take a 20-30 minute break where you don't think about it at all, relax do something else unrelated, set an alarm if you have to. Then come back to it.
Try to recall what you just learnt. If you are successful, you mentally walk through it again an hour or two later, then 4 hours, you should have a good chance at remembering it the next day, and you do this for several days, then a week, by 3 weeks you should have it fairly permanently so long as you recall it every couple of months (it becomes easier).
Importantly, more time and over-practice doesn't really help, so long as you can remember it when prompted you can do anything else you want.
If you are having trouble coming up with the structure, think about how you would explain the concepts of a chapter like a paraphrase or summary of what's ahead that you need to pay attention to if you were asked to tell someone who hadn't read it, but no details.
Second read is all about the details, and how they relate to the context. You can do this alongside context, but it works better if context is developed firmly first (you can do more or less in parallel just not the same or related material, you'll notice its more difficult when its related because of destructive interferance; best example is when trying to learn different languages in parallel). You should encode what you learn in a positive form. Negative forms end up interfering destructively. A negative form would be something like do not do this, or do not not do this. Simplify it in a positive. Do this.
If you need to force yourself to forget something intentionally, by all means create a negative form and do the same process. Its the quickest way of unlearning certain things with a little practice.
This second read, you should focus on the details, and how they are connected to the context. Instead of memorizing the details, synthesize and paraphrase what you have learned and connect that with the main topic.
For truly dense books, you won't pick everything up without multiple reads. On the third read, and beyond include a list of questions you might be asked or ask yourself, related to the concepts covered. This develops intuition and flexibility so you can approach this subject matter from other related concepts which usually start in the form of a question. You fill in the gaps connecting the material. Each time you learn something new, you follow the basic recall process on the forgetting curve timetable.
After a time, with sufficient intelligence, associated information just comes unbidden. When you recall one thing, you tend to refresh the related others, eventually the nerves in your brain grow together and its mostly permanent recall.
Intelligence is at its core speed of thought, and wisdom is a combination of intelligence with memory that's been tempered by intuition.
Having a clean diet and exercise can also greatly impact recall and learning of material learned through books. You will be amazed by some of the useful things you'll find in books published in the 70s and prior.
To be able to think, one must risk being offensive. To be able to learn, one must risk being offended.
I hope you find this useful.
I just do, the same way I can remember most (not all) scenes of a given television episode forever after seeing it once. It is just the nature of intelligence. Memory in not observability though, and so more can be gained from a second reading/viewing.
Chimpanzees, for example, have photographic memory. They remember absolutely everything. Photographic memory is not likely for corvids but their memory may well be superior to humans as well. In that regard they are more intelligent than humans but lack the tools in their toolbox to achieve superior mechanical or functional output.
Chimpanzees, for example, have photographic memory. They remember absolutely everything. Photographic memory is not likely for corvids but their memory may well be superior to humans as well. In that regard they are more intelligent than humans but lack the tools in their toolbox to achieve superior mechanical or functional output.