Is It Possible to Read Too Much? | Deep Questions with Cal Newport
Chapters
0:0 Cal's intro0:20 Cal explains that he doesn't read that many books
0:55 Cal explains that you have more time than you think
00:00:00.000 | The first deep life question comes from Kim.
00:00:03.440 | Kim says, does your focus on the quantity of books
00:00:06.360 | that you read dilute their impact?
00:00:08.160 | Can you remember the content of that many books
00:00:10.800 | or does it even matter?
00:00:12.760 | Kim, I don't think I read that many books.
00:00:14.960 | I read five books a month.
00:00:16.800 | I don't think that's that many.
00:00:19.200 | I think in June, I'm gonna read six
00:00:20.560 | because I had a couple of days where I was being COVID-y.
00:00:25.560 | So I took advantage of that to read an extra book.
00:00:28.400 | I don't think that's a lot of books.
00:00:29.480 | I think our standards are too low.
00:00:31.640 | I think our standards for intellectual engagement
00:00:33.760 | have got so low that that seems like
00:00:35.080 | some impossibly large amount.
00:00:36.480 | But I think historically speaking,
00:00:37.880 | or looking at the life of any sort of serious intellectual,
00:00:40.200 | especially pre-internet intellectual,
00:00:42.360 | five books a month is nothing.
00:00:44.000 | That's nothing.
00:00:46.840 | And so no, I don't think I read too much
00:00:49.080 | to dilute their impact.
00:00:50.240 | Again, here's the thing.
00:00:52.520 | I don't skim.
00:00:54.260 | I'm not staying up late in the night
00:00:56.040 | to try to make some numbers.
00:00:57.840 | You have more time than you think
00:00:59.680 | to do things like reading
00:01:01.040 | if you get rid of other things that are taking its place,
00:01:03.480 | namely looking at your phone.
00:01:05.240 | Just leisurely reading in your spare time
00:01:08.760 | can generate more books completed than you would imagine.
00:01:12.520 | So I actually uploaded a video a couple of weeks ago.
00:01:15.920 | I recorded it just for YouTube.
00:01:18.200 | It was just an inspiration I had.
00:01:19.440 | So you can only find it at the
00:01:20.480 | youtube.com/calnewportmedia.
00:01:22.920 | But it was called something like
00:01:25.280 | how I read five books a month.
00:01:27.880 | And so Kim, you might want to watch that.
00:01:29.840 | I get into what I do in my life
00:01:32.440 | to get through that many books.
00:01:33.360 | If you watch that video, you'll see
00:01:35.160 | not that much reading.
00:01:37.080 | (upbeat music)
00:01:39.660 | (upbeat music)