Push For Deeper Understanding - Do You Actually Read and Understand What You Read?

byroysinOnline

2.6K followers

1 year ago

I read a lot, and I mean A lot! Usually I have several books I am reading simultaneously. I have them everywhere in my home, ready for being picked up and read.

By having books everywhere, preferably open on the page I left the last time I read, it is easy to sit down and read more for a "fem minutes".

I read about everything, spanning from making beer, via origins of martial arts to the mysteries of the Universe, thriller, crime novels etc.

When I read, I read for a deeper understanding of the World I am living in.

But seeing the World of today, with immediate access to everything and a deafening noise of information from an overwhelming number of "channels", there is a high risk of developing a "Monkey Brain", barely reading a few sentences, or watching just a few minutes before we jump over to the next "thing".

So, my question to you is;

Do You Actually Read and Understand What You Read?

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Reading Only Above The Fold and Ingress

The massive amount of information readily available at your fingertips and expectations from your environment causes stress and the experience of Fear Of Losing Out (FOMO).

And what do we do? In order to compensate the FOMO, we read only the headlines and Ingress of the article, blog etc.

We might also only read to first to sentences in a paragraph on a blog post here in WA

The Tyranny of The Moment - It Has To Happen Right Now!

30 years ago, I read a book by a famous professor in Norway, Thomas Hylland Erikesen. I still vividly remember it. The book was titled "The Tyranny of The Moment" (freely translated from Norwegian).

The book discusses the introduction of email in our society, how it has evolved and how it impacts daily life with predictions for the future.

What a foresight the professor had.....

Today we are connected 24/7 to the Internet. Information is at hand immediately as we tune into the Net. We are expected to be available 24/7 by our job, friends, relatives and surroundings through email, mobile phone, Text Messages,mms, FaceTime, social Media.......

No time is left for some "me-time".

This was exactly the scenario the professor described in his book.

This state of "immediate availability leads to a troublesome human behavior; we create an artificial urgency, and do not allow time (or more correctly, don´t block off time) to read the full article in a newspaper, magazine or online content. We just skim the headlines, and at the best, read some of the Ingress or first paragraphs of the article.

(And I know I am repeating myself from what I have already written at the beginning of this post, but this is important)

Then we make up our opinion of the topic of the article....

But based on what background info????

The same habit applies to both online and off-line content. WA members on the WA platform do the same thing (I am not pointing any fingers, it i is just an observation).

Here is a little exercise for you;

Be honest with yourself and ask yourself the following question;

Do I really just skim some of the posts here at WA and elsewhere? On what information do I base my comment/opinion?

Looking at the WA blog roll, the live chat, questions to training and classes;

People ask what must I do to get started after a just a few days as a WA member without having done any of the training or read any of the welcome information we get from our sponsors or from Kyle & Carson.

Further, long term members comment on WA blog posts and have obviously not read the whole post or done any background research on the topic before commenting.

The result? The comment is in several instances barely touching the topic, it is off in terms of factual data, and it is off due to personal biases in relation to the respective topic, it is off due to the feeling the need to say something even if you don´t have anything to say. The last factor mentioned is mainly due the internal ranking system in WA .

What Are A Content Creator´s First Priority?

Quote Daily Stoic here with Deeper Understanding

As content creators and/or copy writers (yes that is what we are as bloggers, email marketers and YouTubers), we have an obligation, as our first priority, to be truthful, present facts and helpful content for our viewers.

Our content and copy needs to be able to withstand any verification done on the facts in our article.

What does it really mean?

As the author of your blog posts, it means that you, me everyone need to do a proper and thorough research, gain a good knowledge about the topic of your blog and blog post, make sure to cite our sources and verify the facts.

As a reader and researcher, It means to read more than just what is visible "above the fold" or in the first part of the Ingress in the articles or papers you use as background information.

You need to become the expert on your chosen topic.

Too often I see people that doesn´t take the task of fact verification seriously and publish anyway, or comment a blog post with their mind in reactive mode. The resulting comment or post is not a good one.

I have done it myself and looking back at some of the content I have produced previously make me cringe .

Check, Verify, Reflect and Push For A Deeper Understanding

My tag line for my own website, and what is also a mantra of mine is "Hurry Slowly and Keep It Simple".

The tag line is not only a "thing" for my blogging and business. It is something I do my best to follow in real life, and it has always served me well when I stick to it. If I don´t follow it, stuff tends to get "messy".

I too fall prey to my "Monkey Brain". But I try to be aware of it, and avoid the "Monkey Brain" when I it try to take over my actions.

By applying the concept of "Hurry Slowly and Keep It simple, I make room for time, time that I use to understand the topic I am researching and want to create a blog about. Time that I can use to verify the background information I have collected.

Keep it simple - Check, Verify and Reflect on every piece of info you read. Don´t read headlines only

I hope you enjoyed my 2-cents for the day. Let me know in the comments what your take on this is.

Do you agree or disagree? Do you have addition tips?

Now I am going back to researching my next blog post for my website.

Roy
-Hurry Slowly and Keep It Simple-