/lit/ - Literature

glad it ain't me

>>16486632
Bump. Same problem

>>16486632
This is why you read fiction. Emotion stays in the brain longer than facts.

take notes

>>16486652
Use this truth when you read non fiction boys.

>>16486654

But I'll feel like a pseud. I don't really believe in the humanitard conception of knowledge, which has to grasp at volume because it's no longer capable of producing non-trivial insights.

If I'm reading a book about the Romans, what does long anecdote #34532 about an obscure senator who died in a gruesome way really tell me? It's merely a bauble you pin on large-scale ideas such as economic self-interest, low trust societies, lack of institutions, differing behaviour in the age of slow communication technology, the empirical fact that humans seem more tolerant of gruesome stuff as we go further back in the past (not 100 % sure of that one), etc, etc.

Forgetting is part of the learning process. Ebbinghaus proved that just after 3 days you only remember ~30% of what you've studied. You need repetition.
You can't learn without partially forgetting things before. This is proven in learning science. Your brain has stored all the information that you have given attention, although you can't rehearse because there were not significant events of repetition. That's the reason why when you re-read a chapter (even after years) it's easier to understand.

You need a system that can help you repeat what you've read. Most of the time talking with friends (inb4: I have no friends) or other people is fine, although you can go full schizo by using a Spaced Repetition System software, such as Anki, where you create your flashcards of part of your books.

I personally use flashcards for my studies, although I don't create flashcards of what I've read: I use https://fluentcards.com/ which automatically converts my Kindle vocabulary look up (I mostly read in english, not my first language) in Anki cards. Those cards are created with the term, the translation and the sentence that contained it. It helps me improving my english and re-read part of the books, helping me in the Long Term Retention.

>>16486704
>If I'm reading a book about the Romans, what does long anecdote #34532 about an obscure senator who died in a gruesome way really tell me?
You're right, you're a pseud.

>>16486632

Summarize things after reading them. Taking notes as you read is a slippery slope to ending up with too many notes. Read a chapter, then write down what you took away from it. The main takeways should crystalize as you write things down. You may not even need what you wrote down afterwards. I did this when studying history and it worked quite well.

>>16486632
It's just 20 pages, flip through them again and refresh your memory, you fucking moron.

Same problem for me except I don't read history. For some reason I rarely remember the last few pages that I read last time.
This only happens with philosophical and political books I think. I know that taking notes helps you remember stuff but it feels so tedious...

>>16486632
>he didn't take notes or reread

>>16486760
I do both notes and chapter summaries and then reread notes

for non-fiction my system is:
1) take general notes in a notebook while reading
2) when done with book, type up notes onto the computer

for fiction
1) when done reading, write the general plot on an index card. also write about the general themes & mood I felt while reading the book

put your phone on do-not-disturb and make sure to mediate for 15 minutes a day.

>>16486704

You don't take notes to reread them, you take notes to keep more of the information in your head. I throw away my notes as soon as I'm finished with a book. The act of writing and thinking about the material helps.

>read the entirety of the bible
>Can't even remember Jesus last name

>>16486632
re-read. If there are summaries/discussions/essays online read those too. listen to lectures/podcasts about what you've read. You probably remember more than you think, it just needs to be rinsed through the brain every now and again.

You need to take notes and you need to keep doing mental recaps of everything you've read so far every now and then

Same but with law school.

>>16487169
> nazarath :)


OP get a girlfriend that quizzes you

>>16486632
Take notes idiot

>>16486652

A mixture of historical fiction and non-fiction history will help things stick. Putting facts within an emotional frame.

>>16486632
complex intellectual concepts take time to digest and remain in the unconscious until you have some way to contextualize them. don't fret, some day you'll see or read something mundane and the content of these pages will return to you as a "Oh, yeah, I get it now!"
the mind is bigger than you think