To read well the on must be an inventor and creator

To Read Well, One Must Be an Inventor and Creator

• Hundreds of lines of text and numerous ideas that I’ve written so far about the demanding reader are missing one crucial element that I’ve either overlooked or neglected.
  • I was oblivious to it, but Edmundson helped me view the demanding reader from a new perspective.
  • What makes a reader demanding? Is it their capacity to transfer the author’s ideas from one context to another? Their skill in constructing mental models, or articulating the author’s ideas in their own words to achieve a deeper understanding of the content?
  • Yes and no.
    • Yes, because a demanding reader must indeed engage with the author in this manner.
    • And no, because it’s not solely about that. The ability to build mental models and grasp the essence of the author’s message is vital, but it alone does not make one a truly demanding reader.
    • To truly become one, a reader must take an additional step.
  • ! One must become an inventor.
• The demanding reader must be an inventor to read well.
  • The demanding reader’s “invention” is geared toward personal transformation. Their approach to interpretation isn’t about seeking absolute truth, as there are no neatly packaged truths, but rather about making the act of reading as intellectually stimulating as possible. The goal is to make everything engaging.
  • In my view, the most enjoyable aspect of reading is the contemplation and reflection on the ideas I’ve uncovered within the text.
  • This approach—finding pleasure in reading and deeply engaging with ideas—can be encapsulated by two interconnected phenomena:
    • Creative reading and creative writing.
• Creative reading differs from ordinary reading. In this process, we train our minds to see the book and its ideas as part of a vast interconnected web of other books, articles, and broader knowledge. No one writes in isolation; everyone influences everyone else. Creative reading enables us to perceive this intricate web.
  • It transforms the reader from a passive consumer of content into an intellectual artisan. The demanding reader reads not for entertainment, but for understanding and, ultimately, for personal transformation.
  • This mindset allows any book to illuminate new ideas. The web that the demanding reader perceives naturally fosters creativity and invention.
• But what does the reader invent? New devices, tools, frameworks? Does a book inspire them to create some new technology?
  • Possibly, but I believe it’s rare for a book to directly spark those kinds of inventions. What a book truly helps with is a different kind of innovation.
• For those who read creatively, the invention typically occurs within the reader’s system of beliefs.
  • The reader becomes an inventor of the self. This process begins with a set of fundamental questions that the demanding reader always keeps in mind and seeks to answer while making notes:
    • ? Who am I?
    • ? What might I become?
    • ? What is the world in which I find myself?
      • ? How might it be improved?
• I reiterate, in light of the questions above: the invention I’ve been speculating about is the invention of oneself.
  • This manifests in new ways to live and conduct life—leading to a better existence in a better world.
  • This is the true purpose of a book and the wisdom it imparts.
  • However, the act of rediscovering oneself occurs not only through creative reading, but through creative writing.

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Source:: Friend:: Child:: Next:: Note-taking could be considered a form of creative writing that aids in interpreting the book and the author’s ideas

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