My good friend Mike Clements taught me how to solve a Rubik’s Cube when we were interns sharing a dorm room in the Summer of 2019. The most common method of solving a cube involves a series of 7 steps that each contain an algorithm (ex Right side up, top turn left, face rotate counter-clockwise, etc). At the beginning of each step you:
Take into account the orientation of the cube
Take into account the position of the colored squares
Perform the algorithm associated with the step you're on based on the two parameters above
Initially, learning to solve the cube was an intensive thinking exercise. Every single turn required thought, not to mention the numerous times you fail and have to think about why you fail and learn how to not fail. Once you get it, it still requires thought, but it is substantially easier than all the previous attempts. Rinse and repeat a few hundred times and you get really good. You forget what the algorithms are and your hands just know how to effortlessly manipulate the cube to bring it to its satisfying end state.
By learning to solve the cube, you are building your subconscious knowledge to the point where making the right move is effortless. I liken this to reading good books. Hours of interpreting and injecting wisdom into your subconscious builds your response to situations that life throws at you. You won't be able to regurgitate all the information presented to you in a book, similar to how I can't tell you what the algorithms are to solve the cube, but the knowledge is there, guiding your everyday actions that make up your character.
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Dylan Brodeur
I’m reading these books that I’m enjoying right now, fully knowing I’m going to forget the details. Then why do I read? I do wonder that myself too at time but then I remember that I enjoy it. It’s the joy.
same. just finished reading the latest book this morning. will i forget most of it? yes. was it an enjoyable experience? absolutely.
Do the details really matter though if you’re enjoying it? Presumably it’s getting stored somewhere in your subconscious to possibly be retrieved sometime in the future when activated.
but you are fed by them too! What did you eat on Feb 3? You don't know but you know you were fed and you don't question continuing to do it. Forms your thinking, you style of communication and writing, your soul.
oh! this is good! i should frame this!
👊
I think about this too. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that although I will forget the details, I will internalize the overall message I liken it to solving a Rubik's Cube in a blog post: https://wibtal.com/19
I'm trying to get into the habit of adding a flash card in thought saver for stuff that I really want to remember. But I'm only actually willing to interrupt my reading if it's something that gets me really excited in the moment
It's the reference frames. You may not consciously know details, but I suspect your subconscious can still pattern-match off of many of them. You may not know how to play a song, but you can recognize it in an instant.
The process, the experience. I don't remember everything that happens to me during the day, but I keep doing it.
You read because you find joy in it.
This is exactly it. Not everything has to be retained to be worth it…sometimes joy is the only ROI we need
That’s good to hear