Episode #3 of Think Different TV features Ben Casnocha and Josh Kaufman in conversation for 40 minutes about books, self-education, the process of reading, ambition, and other topics. Below is the embedded version. I recommend watching it on the Vimeo site and letting it load all the way. Then you can use the chapter markings on that page. Below the embed are the topics discussed. Here's an MP3 audio file of the episode.
1:13 Josh says he's reading personal development books since it's the beginning of the year and you want to start the year off right
2:14 Steve Pavlina? He promotes 30 day experiments - just test something and see how you like it
4:30 Reducing goals into manageable, bite size pieces helps you start achieving them.
6:20 It's important to have at least one experimental side project going at all times
6:49 Ambition - what is it, how has the word evolved
8:48 When ambition is nakedly about power and money, it can be unattractive
10:40 There are people who are trying to do big things where the motivation is wanting to make the world better or just craftsmanship -- wanting to do something for the joy of doing it, have the ability to exercise skill.
12:40 How we choose what books to read
16:28 The role of books in the self-education process
18:00 Searching Amazon and Google for the best books
18:34 Are customer reviews on Amazon reliable?
20:54 The process of reading a book - start to finish or cherry pick sections?
22:18 Take a few minutes before reading a book to think about what you want to get out of it. Selective attention.
26:50 Read until you've gotten the key points and could re-hash them to others
28:00 Recording / summarizing important nuggets from a book
30:00 Looking for mental models: concepts that have broad explanatory power
31:08 The value of book summaries / outlines that are sold?
33:00 If you're a business person, what % of books you read should be in the business book genre?
35:55 Study how people work (psychology, communication, history) and systems / processes.
37:00 Reading about science can help you understand systems / processes (ie, friction)
Great! But the difference in loudness between you two had me reaching for the volume control each time the person talking changed.
Not sure how much effort you want to go to with this, but a simple 'compressor' effect in an audio program would be able to fix this somewhat.
Cheers,
Dave
Posted by: Dave Bolton | 02/02/2009 at 04:35 AM
Way to go, each video has improved significantly. I am happy to see that. All of them are fantastic thinkers.
Kaufman reading logic is quite good, specially Selective attention (pre-reading questions/expectations).
Just like a book triggers an idea while you read and makes impact in your thinking. Definitely makes the difference between
Ben, could you please give another brief hint on how you read/learn when taking notes? I've been following Cal Newport's scheme so far and my own.
On any kind of readings I tend to look for a general topic or a recommendation from someone I admire. Kaufman's way may be intense; looking up too specific, or at least it sound to me like that.
Reading science as Kaufman says is a good point I've never heard from a business person, actually very cleaver. As I'm into science I wonder if I should read business literature (??)
keep up the good work
Posted by: Andres Jimenez | 02/02/2009 at 02:39 PM
sorry, I meant "clever" not "cleaver"
Posted by: Andres Jimenez | 02/02/2009 at 02:41 PM
Do you guys recommend any books for science, psychology, and history? I am reading the PMBA list, and I've really enjoyed that selection so far. For me, it is really difficult to select the right books to read. I am a student of philosophy and finance/economics, so I can understand fairly complex ideas if the all the terms are defined. As a result, I don't like dumbed-down books on any subject, but I find it difficult to select books somewhere in between those written for lay people and those written for professionals in a given field. I also don't like superfluous writers, and I find it difficult to select books that present ideas concisely.
Posted by: Jesse | 02/09/2009 at 11:09 AM