I recently came across these 29 bits of wisdom, most of which I enjoyed quite a lot. I want to highlight one of particular interest, here:

As a teacher and someone who likes to consider myself a free-thinker, I appreciate this liberalism. We’re too often constrained by ambiguously derived, but worthless, social pressures, I feel. Failing to read a book continuously from start to finish is one of these taboos. I am not sure exactly from where this social convention comes, but I won’t go into that here. I am really most interested in discussing when it is or is not appropriate to skim.

Of course, the benefit of skimming is time saved. Less time reading document X creates more time for document Y. Yet, the risk of skimming, of course, is missed information. If the goal of reading is knowledge acquisition (which I recognize is not a universal goal of reading, but is most often mine), and words are the medium of communication, reading fewer of them puts you at risk of neglecting some valuable input.

  • What to skim?

I use the following implicit strategy when determining to skim:

  1. What is the topic?
  2. What is the medium?
  3. How is it written?

If I have some degree of familiarity with a combination of topic, medium, and style, I’ll be more likely to skim.

Is this common? Is this good? The discussion has broader implications, really.

To skim implies an “efficiency”, and we are primed to feel good about that. But what are the mental costs of being a skimmer? Of being someone who constantly assesses the present, considering the opportunity cost, and wondering if they ought to move on? How does this deteriorate happiness?

I recently skimmed that Amos Tversky (of Thinking Fast and Slow fame) never stayed at a social engagement in which he felt uncomfortable (“just get up and start walking; you’ll be amazed how quickly you can conjure an excuse if questioned”). A social skimmer, he clearly had an admirable confidence and sense of purpose. But how did this pragmatic and selfish tendency impact him? What relationships were weakened? What memories missed?

As I age, I find myself growing a bit more ornery. I read what I want, and leave social gatherings if I’d rather. Is this increasing self-confidence a sign of my flourishing, or a reversion to a worse human?