Karl Fast, an independent scholar, information architect, and futurist, discusses reading practices and strategies with the host in preparation for their upcoming personal knowledge management workshop. They explore topics such as different reading habits, creating a supportive physical space for reading, the concept of 'mise en place' applied to knowledge work, and their love for recommending books and the library experience.
Read more
AI Summary
Highlights
AI Chapters
Episode notes
auto_awesome
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
Reading is an essential part of personal development and learning, contributing to a sense of balance and knowledge creation.
Finding the right balance between efficient note-taking and extracting epistemic benefits is crucial for effective personal knowledge management.
Deep dives
The Importance of Reading in Personal Knowledge Management
In this podcast episode, the host, Jorge Racco, is joined by his friend Carl Fast to discuss their reading practices and their upcoming personal knowledge management workshop. Carl, an avid reader, emphasizes the importance of reading for personal development and learning. He shares that reading is a vital part of his life, and if he's not reading, he feels a sense of imbalance. Carl also reveals that he reads around 60 books per year, tracking everything in a spreadsheet. He categorizes the books based on different criteria, such as pleasure, ideas, improvement, and family. The discussion highlights the significance of intentional and focused reading to extract insights and create knowledge from the books we read.
Finding Balance in Reading Approaches
Jorge and Carl compare their reading habits and approaches, recognizing that different individuals have varying modalities and priorities when it comes to reading. Carl acknowledges that his approach is more intensive and committed, while Jorge tends to read slightly fewer books and places a higher emphasis on fully understanding the ideas presented in each book. They discuss the process of capturing notes and highlights, and the importance of circling back to synthesize the main ideas, creating a mental model and connecting the ideas with others they've read. Both agree that reading should not be seen as a task to complete, but as an ongoing process of personal growth and development.
Tools and Techniques for Effective Reading and Knowledge Management
The conversation shifts to discussing tools and techniques for effective reading and knowledge management. Carl shares his organized approach to capturing notes using post-it flags in physical books, highlighting meaningful passages, and summarizing the insights afterwards. He also explains the importance of creating a reading space that supports cognition, and how physical surroundings can enhance the reading experience. In contrast, Jorge emphasizes his use of e-books and digital note-taking. He highlights the benefits of e-books, such as the ability to sync highlights and annotations across devices and integrating them into his note repository. Both agree that finding the right balance between efficiency in note-taking and extracting epistemic benefits is crucial for personal knowledge management.
Living Well with Abundant Information
The discussion concludes by addressing the challenges of living in a world overflowing with information. They explore the importance of living intentionally, being selective in the information consumed, and developing a sense of agency over the influx of information. They highlight the need to set priorities and be deliberate with reading choices, while also acknowledging the need for pleasure and enjoyment in reading. The upcoming personal knowledge management workshop, focused on developing strategies to manage and extract value from information, is highlighted as a practical resource for individuals looking to navigate the abundance of information in a purposeful and meaningful way.
Karl Fast is an independent scholar, information architect, and futurist. He’s the co-author with Stephen Anderson of Figure It Out: Getting From Information to Understanding. Karl is one of the most avid readers I know, and in this conversation, we compare our reading practices. We discussed this subject in preparation for a personal knowledge management workshop we will teach later this year.