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I read a fair bit. Books, magazines, online articles etc, the vast bulk of it non-fiction and on a variety of topics. However I've noticed over the last few years I don't seem to retain much of the information. Possibly it's me getting older, maybe it's another downside of the Internet age and linked to well documented reductions in attention spans.
So for those of you who are able to read a book and retain much of the information, are you doing anything in particular? Going over it a second time (chapter by chapter), taking notes as you read, things like that?
I re read a lot of novels and reach a point of just about being able to quote them
I think however what you are seeing is what I call " the librarian problem" Imagine your brain as a room full of filing cabinets. When you are born they are all empty and the librarian in charge has an easy life finding the few bits of info you learn quickly - the librarian manages quite well into your middle years but those filing cabinets are filling up. BY the time you reach later years ( IIRC you are a similar age to me 60) there is so much stuff in the cabinets and some of it is badly filed that the librarian is now really struggling to find anything quickly - especially as they are getting older as well!
Its to do with the amount of data you have stored and thus the ease with which it can be recalled
I mostly read fiction, and I read a lot, but I don’t retain much of any of the books I read, which means I can go back later and read a book again and enjoy it just as much.
There are some exceptions, which left a lasting impression and which I’ve only read once or twice, ‘Wizard Of The Pigeons’, by Megan Lindholm is one in particular, which I tried to read again, but after many attempts it was about twenty years before I could actually get through it, just because of the vivid feelings it brought back.
Many books I’ve read countless times, and never get bored of them.
I’m re-reading some books by Claire North, it’s been a while since I first read them, and it’s like I’m reading them fresh, I’d completely forgotten the storylines!
I read more non-fiction - basically, if it's interesting it'll stick. 🙂
Interesting analogy tj. I know there's a theory that all the information you've taken in is still there, it's just the retrieval system that's rubbish. I've just been reading some stuff about taking summary notes which essentially improves (in your analogy) the indexing system. Am going to give that a try.
That's one of the things that slightly worries me pondo. Some of the stuff that interests me does stick, but too much of it is still slipping away.
Dreadfully. Especially names. I can remember the basic gist of a story but not details. I'm currently reading 'Operation Mincemeat' by Ben McIntyre which is about a deception plot in WW2 & I can't remember the full name of the main (dead) agent even though I'm on page 200. It's a fantastic book!
Ask me to meet you at a certain place at a certain time anytime in the future within reason & I'll remember without making a note of it. I'm ok with phone numbers as well.
What was the question again OP?
What was the question again OP?
There was a question??
you remember only about 10% of what you read
Dreadfully. Especially names. I can remember the basic gist of a story but not details.
Same only better than gist, I've good narrative memory including for dialogue. I never remember names - but do remember characters. Odd. My wife's the opposite. Similar with factual stuff - if I can make sense of something then in it goes but I've a rubbish memory for names and dates etc that just are what they are and don't follow a logic.
I'd say I've not much of a memory for numbers etc, until I realise that some people look at their debit card when giving details to a website/on the phone whereas I do seem to have important numbers stuck away somewhere. Though again, nothing like to the extent my wife does/did, in the days before mobiles she just knew everyone's number if she'd dialed it once or twice.
there’s a theory that all the information you’ve taken in is still there, it’s just the retrieval system that’s rubbish.
Depends what you mean by 'taken in'. To get into long term memory a thing has to make it through working memory, which happens at limited rate and is highly selective. To get back out again it kind of has to be recreated. Amazing we're able to do this with a head full of wet salty spaghetti, though increasingly I'm not.
Ham, Cheese and sliced gerkin, with french mayo!
you remember only about 10% of what you read
What does this actually mean? I've seen similar written, but 10% of what, of what you read- words, sentences, paragraphs?
i'm really unsure how much I actually remember, as opposed to stuff seeming familiar next time you encounter the topic.
I can’t remember the full name of the main (dead) agent even though I’m on page 200. It’s a fantastic book!
Bill Martin!
I'm reading this at the moment and thankfully his name at least has stuck in my head.
In general though, my mind has turned into a sieve recently - perhaps it's the newly prescribed statins but I'm afraid it's just being nearly 60.
I mostly read fiction, and I read a lot, but I don’t retain much of any of the books I read, which means I can go back later and read a book again and enjoy it just as much.
This is me. Currently on a big reread of all the books I remember enjoying in the past. What I'm even finding nowadays is I'm struggling to remember the name of some authors(see also music). I used to laugh at a colleague who had read 60 odd pages of a book before telling me that he'd already read it, unfortunately I think I'm heading this way too.
Im terrible with the written word, for me its completely pictorial. The weird aspie brain takes a snapshot of everything.
Started a new job in September, training is almost exclusively elearning documents and manuals. I can remember sweet FA frankly.
I can remember most of what I read in the latest issue of Cyclist magazine though.
I’m re-reading some books by Claire North, it’s been a while since I first read them, and it’s like I’m reading them fresh, I’d completely forgotten the storylines!
Really? I've found her ideas are so genius that they really stick. Same for China Mieville for me.
Alastair Reynolds on the other hand, kinda all melds into one - I remember little snippets, but can't remember how the stories all come together.
It depends on why you're reading. If you're looking for key quotes, perspectives and policies you interrogate the material and remember it, be it politics or bike stuff. If reading for pleasure, you're more relaxed and possibly less retentive. I used to read a particular book as a teenager because it was so hard it sent me to sleep.