> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bramadams.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Issue 46: Is Being Well Read Actually a Thing? Pt III: The Well-Read Archetypes - URL: https://www.bramadams.dev/issue-46/ - Published: 2024-02-04T19:15:53.000Z - Updated: 2024-02-18T05:45:16.000Z - Description: On being well read within, without, by mastery - Author: Bram Adams - Tags: newsletter, #u-bg-feature-image, #u-color-text-light 💡 This is a part of a three part series on becoming well-read. \- Part One: [Zero to One](https://www.bramadams.dev/issue-44/) \- Part Two: [The Upper Class of Readers](https://www.bramadams.dev/issue-45/) \- Part Three: [The Well-Read Archetypes](https://www.bramadams.dev/issue-46/) (you are here) [< Previous Issue](https://www.bramadams.dev/issue-45/) Dear Reader, ## Food For Thought Welcome to the final part of the well-read series! Let's quickly review where we've been so far and what we'll be looking at in the final issue of the series. [In the first part of the series](https://www.bramadams.dev/issue-44/), we took a look at statistics collected from the Washington Post about the **reading habits of Americans in 2023** – the critical takeaway was that the **median American** (50th percentile) read l**ess than two books in 2023**. We discussed why this is a **frog-boiling problem**, and why **fear of boredom** may be the case that Americans read so little. I then suggested a **zero to one strategy** that could be used to bring the average reader to reading one book a month, or **twelve books in a year**, or ten more books than are currently being read. [In the second part of the series](https://www.bramadams.dev/issue-45/), we discussed an uniquely interesting insight from the above dataset – that readers seemed to **subconsciously congeal into three "classes" of readers**, quite similar to the stratifications of upper, middle, and lower classes in society. Then I introduced the concepts of **book inertia** and **book density**, how to move up to the reader class chain with consistency, and how inertia can prevent **burnout**. In this final issue of the well-read series, I'd like to discuss the topic of **being well-read** itself. Up until now, I've been **evasive** in defining what I believe are the necessary prerequisites to becoming a well-read individual. Even as I write this newsletter, my definition of being well-read is in a **liquid, evolving state**. Being well-read is an **abstract** place with no acute measurement tools, a **godhead** for readers to chase after, than to actually consistently be. Therefore, any simple definition falls flat. Instead, I think there are (at least) three entirely **defensible definitions** of being a well-read person. These are: - Well Read Within a Topic - Well Read Without a Topic - Well Read by Mastery Let's go over these one by one. ### Well-Read *Within* a Topic To become **well-read within a topic**, a person sets out to consume as much as they can about a particular field or subfield of study. This person will seek to learn **all available aspects** of their topic of study, and does not shy away from **delving uncomfortably deep** into mastery over their choice. Two signs of a *well-read person within a topic*: - The ability to play **devil's advocate** for any argument within their topic. This is a sign that they have **not only** voraciously read books that affirm their cognitive biases, but they also sought out the best literature that actively **disagree** with their world view. - They will be able to summon a **mind map** anywhere and any time about their topic. They seem to have **spatial understanding** of their topic and have a deep **historical knowledge** as to why things are, and perhaps more importantly, why other things aren't. A focus into a singular body of study for years with **deliberate practice** can create a person who is *well-read within a topic*. Obsession paired with notation. ### Well-Read *Without* a Topic To become **well-read without a topic** is in some ways opposite to being *well-read within a topic* but there are similarities. The main motivation of being well read without a topic is to chase **curiosity** wherever it leads you, without any form of judgement attached. Signs of a *well-read person without a topic*: - **Survey knowledge** of many fields. Able to **reference trivia** at the drop of a hat, **conversationally fluent** with different experts in many rooms. - Able to **transfer learnings from one field and apply them directly to another**. **Willing to question** things with the premise that all knowledge is ever-changing and **propositional**. - Can be found in **multiple sections of a bookstore**, creating j**ourneyman level knowledge in multiple fields of study**. Liberal arts degrees are an example of becoming well read without a topic, taking as many opportunities available to act on curiosity. The final state of a person well-read without a topic is the archetypal Renaissance man. ### Well-Read By Mastery To be **well-read by mastery** is to have the ability to not shy away from any difficult book, to have a firm grasp on the underlying skill of **reading and remembering** information that lies within a library of books. Signs of a *well-read person by mastery* include: - A highly retentive memory and **usage of spaced repetition techniques**. An ability to **analyze an authors' arguments objectively** and derive new insights from any book. - The ability to **grab any book off the shelf in a library and conquer it** – be it classics, theoretical, old, new, etc. A person *well-read by mastery* will have **likely read less books** than the other two categories, and is likely has the **most "raw talent"** of the well read archetypes. ### What Am I? If my reading practice were split from a whole into percentages of the above categories, I am roughly 65% *well-read without*, 25% *well-read within* (computer science & philosophy topic driven) and 10% *well-read by mastery* (there are a number of books in the English corpus I haven't tackled due to their complexity – not to mention all the great books in other languages! ### Conclusion Wow! What a series! I think we covered a lot of ground, and hopefully these issues will inspire you to pick up (or deepen) your relationship with reading in 2024. To wrap up this series, I'll leave you with a quote from Kevin Kelly. It's simple, but it really summarizes the point of what reading is good for. > To be remarkable, read books. \-- [Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier (affl. link)](https://amzn.to/4bB8KG3?ref=bramadams.dev) ## Ye Olde Newsstand - Weekly Updates [You Have Spent Moneyif you guys are hunters, try hunting me![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/cc/0ccc9a8d-054a-4056-b11e-e1bfbbb66387/content/images/size/w256h256/2023/01/leda-2.jpeg)Bram AdamsBram Adams![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/cc/0ccc9a8d-054a-4056-b11e-e1bfbbb66387/content/images/2024/02/augustmet.jpeg)](https://www.bramadams.dev/core-dump-2024-02-02/) weekly media dump! Thanks for reading, and see you next Sunday! *ars longa, vita brevis,* Bram