Acesounderglass is a personal blog about learning, research methods, epistemics, and everyday problems such as homelessness.
HN commenters link its homelessness typology to discuss policy and cite it for reading and research ideas; one thread notes a crosspost.
I've been reading a lot of history books. For me, reading history is like reading fiction but better. It still transports me to a different place. But the characters are more realistic. My suspension of disbelief never breaks. And I learn about things which really happened.
If you just want to dip your toe in reading history, the Cartoon Guide to the History of the Universe series is a reasonable place to start. I think it prioritizes entertainment over accuracy some, but it's pretty entertaining! https://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Volumes-1-7/dp/0385265204/
Someone I know factchecked a different book, A Brief History of the Human Race, and said it did really well: https://acesounderglass.com/2017/04/18/epistemic-spot-check-a-brief-history-of-the-human-race-michael-cook/
I read A Brief History of the Human Race based on their recommendation and I can def recommend it also. So here's the link on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Human-Race/dp/0393326454/
After learning about the macro contours of history, I started reading more about specific things which seemed potentially interesting. I liked all of these, roughly in this order:
* Venice: https://www.amazon.com/Venice-History-Thomas-F-Madden/dp/0147509807/
* Lincoln and contemporaries: https://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0743270754/
* The United Nations: https://www.amazon.com/United-Nations-History-Stanley-Meisler/dp/0802145299/
Reading history is a great…
I go through phases of mostly reading online vs mostly reading printed books. I strongly suspect that pieces like this, which focus on saving print culture, are driven more by emotion than reason.
Just because it's in print doesn't mean it's worth reading. For example, many printed books are literally fiction. If you read something online, more likely than not it is at least "based on a true story".
Our culture attaches a certain significance to reading printed literature. It's supposed to make you deeper and more cultured. That's very nice, but I don't think reading classic literature as a hobby is meaningfully different from, say, listening to avant-garde jazz or reading old superhero comics as a hobby. I'm skeptical reading fiction makes you a better friend, worker, or citizen. Just makes you more "cultured". (Which is fine!)
What about nonfiction? A lot of nonfiction doesn't respect the reader's time. "This book should've been a blog post; this blog post should've been a tweet." Nonfiction print authors tend to devote many words to irrelevant anecdotes, stating common sense, or repeating a point they already made.
And just because it's in print doesn't mean the information is accurate. I know one blogger who started doing spot-checks and concluded many printed books have inaccurate info:
>I was worried my epistemic spot checking project was doomed before it began. The well regarded Sapiens dismissed a link between cultural and genetic evolution, and…
I am a 35-year-old person, and I have spent at least 5 years now trying to figure out how to read for comprehension and retention. There is no simple solution, but I do think people discount "familiarity". The truth is that it is tough, and it is slow.
I also found this helpful: "The single most helpful thing in figuring out what to write down was noticing when my reading was slowing down, which typically meant either there was a particular fact that needed to be moved from short to long term storage, or that I needed to think about something." Here is the source: https://acesounderglass.com/2020/06/10/what-to-write-down-when-youre-reading-to-learn/
I am aware that there are problems with the books, even some serious ones. But I find that hardly surprising from a book that references a 1000 other scholarly works. But the reason you can critique the book effectively is because he references where his claims originate from.
In the language of this essay [1], Graeber's work is legible, Harari's not at all.
[1] https://acesounderglass.com/2022/02/07/epistemic-legibility/
I really appreciated the concept of "epistemic legibility" as a virtue. Arguments are most valuable when they are clear and concise. It makes them easier to refute if wrong and easier to extend/apply if correct.
As far as I know, the phrase was coined here: https://acesounderglass.com/2022/02/07/epistemic-legibility/
Interesting! This is the second time I see a strong recommendation for that product (first one was [0]).
Seems pretty expensive ($300) for a vibrating bracelet. Couldn't you emulate the effect with an Android smart watch and a custom app?
[0] https://acesounderglass.com/2023/05/08/product-endorsement-apollo-neuro/