Reviving Reading In Our Social Media Age

I read many books because I run a podcast that spotlights the great ideas coming out of my corner of the world.

In conversations with friends, most assume I am a speed reader, and they ask me what my secret is to reading so much.

That’s when I confess to them that I don’t have a secret. I read about 40-50 books per year; honestly, I should be reading more. I try my best to digest the information I encounter by taking notes in my commonplace book and, in some cases, publishing them online.

In a previous essay, I argued that social media has conditioned us to receive information through algorithmic curation and, in the process, might have hurt our ability to read.

I recommend three mindset shifts to get more of us reading in the age of social media.

Don’t Read for Entertainment

This is my hottest take.

There is a lot of advice telling people to read what you will enjoy.

99% of you should ignore this.

In the age of social media and streaming services, you have a world of entertainment at your fingertips. You can watch highly produced cinematic films and live sports events on your phone, tablet, and television almost for free.

If you want to entertain yourself, the book is highly inefficient.

Reading is cognitively demanding and has zero visual or auditory stimulation.

If you want to entertain yourself, 9 times out of 10- you will likely scroll your social apps or turn the TV on.

Naturally, you will end up skipping out on reading altogether.

If you want to start reading more, eliminate the idea of ‘reading for pleasure’ from your mind.

If you want to be entertained, enjoy your Netflix, Tik Tok and Youtube unashamedly.

(For those who protest this take, the good news is that you are probably a prolific reader already. The fact that you can enjoy a book for its own sake is a testament to how enlightened you are. It is also only fair that I confess I enjoy reading comics from time to time. But even comics are my backup when there is nothing to watch on TV)

Use Books as Maps

Think of every great book as a carefully crafted map drawn by someone who spent years exploring that territory. By reading, you benefit from their exploration without spending decades making the same discoveries yourself.

Two important characteristics of maps should be noticed. A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness... If we reflect upon our languages, we find that at best they must be considered only as maps. A word is not the object it represents.

- Alfred Korzybski, Science and Sanity (1933)

Korzybski is right.

The best maps are reductions and abstractions of reality.

Here are a few examples in action:

• A Google Maps navigation shows you the fastest route from New York to Boston but can't tell you about the charming small towns you'll miss by taking the highway, the perfect sunset viewpoint just off the marked path, or whether that highly-rated restaurant along the way truly serves the best clam chowder. The map reduces a rich journey into a simple line between two points.
• A resume distills years of work experience into two pages but reveals nothing about someone's actual leadership style, how they handle stress, or their ability to solve novel problems.
• A recipe lists ingredients and steps but can't convey the intuition of a skilled chef—the sound of properly sizzling butter or the exact feel of well-kneaded dough.

We use maps like these to simplify complexity to navigate the world better.

Now, what are the best maps available to us? Regarding road trips, we know Waze is probably better than Google Maps and way better than cartographic maps.

I would argue that books as a medium are the best available maps to understand reality.

The best books successfully distil complex realities into comprehensible models. They don't claim to capture every nuance of their subject matter but aim to provide useful frameworks for understanding.

Think of how a great biography doesn't just list events chronologically, but creates a coherent narrative that helps us grasp the essence of a person's life while acknowledging there's always more to the story.

The best books maintain what Korzybski would call "structural similarity" with their subject matter. Just as a topographical map preserves the relationships between mountains and valleys, good books preserve the crucial relationships between ideas, events, or concepts they describe.

You might argue that audio and video formats can rival books in representing reality.

The most critical difference is that books (like maps) afford you time to explore at your own pace.

You can pause, reflect, and re-examine passages to internalise a book's core ideas just as you would study a map at your own pace.

Comparatively, audio and video experiences force you to experience information at their pace.

The atemporal nature of books gives the author the privilege of presenting information via complex hierarchies such as chapters, sections, and references that are harder to navigate in time-based media.

This privilege must be earned because the word is printed and, thus, permanent. The bar for articulating ideas is much higher than spoken communication.

Unsurprisingly, authors spend many months pouring over multiple revisions before publishing the book.

For us, the readers, the book forces us to actively engage with the text. We question, analyse, and evaluate the author's arguments. We then integrate these new ideas with our existing knowledge.

This active engagement creates stronger understanding because we're not just passively consuming information but building our own mental maps of the territory.

The difference between both formats could be best summed up this way: reading is akin to exploring a territory with a map; watching or listening is akin to observing a territory blur past through the car window.

You will see things differently once you see books as maps that will help you better navigate complex realities.

Create A Forcing Function

Constraints simplify usage and prevent errors. Physical constraints limit the possible actions, making it easier to figure out what to do

Donald Norman introduced the term "forcing function" in his seminal book, The Design Of Everyday Things.

Norman explored how well-designed systems can guide users toward correct actions and prevent user-mistakes through constraints.

Norman describes a common problem with stovetops where the burners are arranged in a square, but the controls are laid out linearly. This mismatch between the burners' spatial arrangement and their corresponding controls often leads to confusion, causing users to accidentally turn on the wrong burner.

A better design would prevent user error and allow the user to know which burner to turn on intuitively.

In this case, the design creates a strong forcing function for the user to use the right stove.

Now, I think we should apply the same thinking in our approach to reading.

We should design and create forcing functions for our reading practices as well.

Let’s take the legendary investor who has now joined the eminent dead, Charlie Munger as an example,

He confesses,

I am a biography nut myself. And I think when you’re trying to teach the great concepts that work, it helps to tie them into the lives and personalities of the people who developed them. I think you learn economics better if you make Adam Smith your friend. That sounds funny, making friends among the “eminent dead,” but if you go through life making friends with the eminent dead who had the right ideas, I think it will work better for you in life and work better in education. It’s way better than just giving the basic concepts.

To Munger, he wanted to internalise the best ideas of history to be a better investor and citizen. He figured out that he had to read about their lives if he wanted these ideas to stick.

For Munger, as he read the biographies of the eminent dead, he could use these ‘maps’ to help him imagine how he ought to live.

Franklin used his self-made wealth to achieve financial independence so he could concentrate on societal improvement. Charlie admires that trait in his mentor and strives to emulate Franklin. He has had a long involvement with Good Samaritan Hospital and Harvard-Westlake School, both in Los Angeles, and has chaired the boards of each.

In the same vein, Singapore’s founding Foreign Minister, S Rajaratnam when he was a young man, immersed himself in books and lectures because he wanted to figure out what ideas could usher Singapore into an age of independence and shared prosperity,

He was fascinated by the explosion of ideas and attended as many controversial lectures as he could, such as those by Harold Laski, the voice of Fabian socialism. Laski, who taught at the LSE from 1920 to 1950, influenced many students with his neo-Marxist democratic socialism which called for a full socialist transformation of the economic system. Raja was no exception. Of all of Laski’s beliefs, the one that gripped Raja’s imagination was his advocacy of equality and liberty.

Once Laski gripped Raja’s imagination, he read all kinds of books to figure out how to put those ideals into practice.

The thread here is that both men had an end goal they wanted to achieve. Their mission was the forcing function to accumulate and read more of the 'right maps'.

I want to continuously deepen my understanding of the ideas shaping our world and the diverse cultures and economic forces driving Singapore, Asia, and the world.

I do it through preparing and publishing my podcast, The Front Row Podcast.

In preparing for the podcast, I read as much as I can on the subject matter at hand. The constraint of the podcast naturally pushes me to read.

In publishing the podcast, I encourage others to read as much as they can.

Once you have a mission that you obsess over, you reduce your reliance on willpower to read.

You are naturally compelled to read what's necessary; thus, the world of books opens up to you.

And, if you are struggling to find your true north, read!

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