Many people reflect that books, after reading, forget, and sometimes, forget them all.
Someone used the words to answer: "When I was a child, I ate a lot of food, and now I can't remember what I ate." But what is certain is that some of them have grown into my bones and flesh. ”
That's a good idea, but it doesn't solve the problem.
Let's talk about this in combination with what I have learned.
First, forgetting is normal
First, it is necessary to admit that forgetting is a normal physiological phenomenon.
Maybe there is one that you can't forget? But, at least I haven't seen it.
I think that forgetting is both involuntary and necessary.
Good memory, can not just think of the good memory of knowledge, remember happy moments, you must know, there are many pains in life. If painful memories, painful scenes, always linger, the human brain may not be able to eat.
People often accuse of not having a long memory for forgetting the pain of a good scar, but why is it not a good thing to forget?
Moreover, people always think that they have forgotten all about the contents of a book, but in fact, this is not the case.
When people re-read the book years later, some memories of the book will emerge. It's like forgetting all the English you learned in school, but if you want to pick it up, it's the same quickly. The memory of the book is still hidden deep in the brain, and can be activated by calling.
Second, read around a center
Reading is too complicated, which is good for broadening horizons, but it also has a big drawback, that is, learning is not systematic. Zhu Guangqian said: "If you read more and don't seek much understanding, it is like galloping through the ten miles of the ocean, although it is full of curiosities, it is in vain to be distracted and returns empty-handed." ”
"Some people read books on their own interests. When I encounter an interesting book today, I will throw away the intended things and read it with all my energy; Tomorrow I will come across another interesting book, and I will do it anyway, although the two books are unrelated in nature. During the year, you can sometimes learn astronomy, sometimes study bees, and sometimes read Shakespeare. Books that others think are important but they are not interested in are ignored. ”
Zhu Guangqian's description of the situation is probably not unfamiliar to many people.
Sometimes, the same is true of my own reading.
If it is purely a pleasure to read books as a pleasure, there is nothing wrong with doing so.
But if you want to pursue the harvest of reading, you need to change.
The prescription given by Zhu Guangqian is that reading should have a center. "Reading must have a center to maintain interests, or subjects, or problems. When focusing on the subject, it is necessary to select the key books of that subject, and read them from beginning to end one by one, in order to obtain an inclusive understanding of the subject and prepare for further advanced research. Reading literary works centered on writers, and reading historical works centered on the times, also belongs to this category. When the problem is the center, there must first be a problem to be studied in mind, and then the books on the problem must be read, with the intention of collecting materials and opinions of various families on the problem, so that they can weigh and draw conclusions. Important books still have to be read in their entirety, the rest of which are read here in a chapter, there in a section, and when you get the material you want to collect, you can lose your hand. This is a common method used by ordinary researchers, and it is not suitable for beginners. However, when beginners are subject-centered, they can still take a slight problem-centered approach. ”
Lu Xun is also like this, "To achieve the hobby of reading, we must first go through the overview, and then choose to enter the more specialized one that we love."
Su Shi advocated that each book should be read several times, and only one problem should be solved at a time, "So I hope that scholars will seek it every time, such as seeking the role of the sages in the rise and fall of ancient and modern times, and only do this intention, and do not have any thoughts; and do not ask for deeds and cultural relics once, and so on." He imitates this. If you learn, you will be attacked on all sides, and you will not be able to talk the same as the seeker. ”
This is to break the book and read it, to study the problem exclusively, such as reading a novel, the first time specifically understanding its language, the second time specifically analyzing its structure, and the third time studying its thoughts.
In addition, reading a novel, only reading once, in fact, can only understand a general situation, and the first reading of most people's attention is focused on the storyline, in addition to the storyline, the rest can say very little.
Therefore, it is also normal to read a novel only once and forget it later.
Zhu Guangqian said: "The knowledge of all fragments is not only easy to forget, but also useless. Each time the new knowledge acquired must be connected with the old knowledge, that is, it must be gathered into a system around a center, and it will take root and blossom. ”
Knowledge should not be too fragmented, reading and learning should be concentrated, if the books read are similar and can be connected together, it is naturally easy to remember. And it is best to be able to use it frequently, and it will naturally fade away for a long time.
Most of the readers are widely involved in reading miscellaneous books, in fact, this is also the basis of education and learning, but generally they will not be mixed to the end, and most of them will eventually go to the art industry to specialize.
Third, pay attention to "rereading"
Confucius said: Knowing the new from the past can be a teacher.
Borges always stressed the need to reread, he said: "There is better thing than reading, which is to reread, to go deep into the work, to enrich it, because you have read it." I would like to advise everyone to read fewer new books but to reread more."
Zhu Guangqian said: "Instead of reading ten irrelevant books, it is better to read a book that is really worth reading with the time and energy of reading ten books; instead of reading ten books can only be read once, it is better to take one book and read it ten times." 'A good book is not tired of reading a hundred times, and it is familiar to read deeply and think deeply about itself', these two poems deserve to be hung as a motto for every reader. ”
Many people are more anxious to read, others have ten lines at a glance, why can't I? Other people can read hundreds of books a year, why can't I?
In fact, people tend to focus on quantity, satisfying the vanity they have gained in the number of books they have read, rather than emphasizing quality.
Light map fast, a year is to read ten thousand books, what can be done?
"Shadow of Dreams" has a passage: "Teenagers reading are like peeping at the moon in the gap, middle-aged people reading are like looking at the moon in the court, and old people reading are like playing with the moon on stage." "Even if the same book is read by people at different ages, the feelings and gains obtained are different.
When you read a book when you are young, you only want to see a hilarity and a fresh look, and you often can't fully understand the deep meaning of the book.
Therefore, it is necessary to read it repeatedly.
To read, there must be a choice, choose to read classic books, and read them repeatedly. According to Zhu Guangqian's calculations, there are not many books that people really need to read, and the benefit is not much because reading is not selected and careful. "It doesn't help to read lecture notes textbooks well, and each subject must be carefully played with three or five kinds of books. There are only a dozen kinds of general knowledge courses, three or five kinds of books for each optional reading, and the total number of books that should be read is only about fifty. This is not an extravagant requirement. Most of the books that the average reader has read are more than that, and they can't get benefits because they don't have a choice, and they only scribble through when they read. ”
If you read more books, you will find that there are not many really good books, and there are very few books that can be recommended to people.
There are very few truly groundbreaking books, and most of them are just stacked beds.
Good books are worth reading slowly, and reading a small number of classic books over and over again not only deepens absorption and memory, but also helps to form their own learning advantages, which will be very beneficial.
Fourth, go to the book with questions
"To read is to live." The French writer Flaubert once said so.
Reading books just for the sake of reading is separated from life, and it is normal that if you can't apply what you have learned, you can't remember.
If reading and life can be combined, and what you learn is internalized in your own thoughts and methods of dealing with problems, then there is no need to simply memorize.
Socrates said at the trial that was about to sentence him to death that the unexamined life was not worth living. The famous American publisher Will Schwarber said in the book "Reading for Life": "I read for life, I read for life. "Reading is the best way I know to learn how to examine your own lifestyle." By looking at what you have done and what others have done, your own thoughts, theories, feelings and other people's thoughts, theories and feelings, you will become more and more aware of yourself and the world around you. ”
Not only that, but Will Schwarber insists on solving life's confusion by reading books, "At some point in life, when I have some very specific needs, I look for a book to solve it." "Looking back on my life, I've been asking the book for help for a variety of reasons: I hope it comforts me, makes me laugh, distracts me, and brings me knowledge."
If reading is to solve the problems of life, that is, to encounter difficulties in life and hope to crack them through reading, then there is basically no problem of not remembering.
I have learned it and put it into my mind, and there is no better memory than this.
"When I was young, I thought that not reading books was not enough to understand life, and it was only later that I found that if I did not understand life, I could not read books. The meaning of reading is probably to use the feelings of life to read, and to use the income from reading to live. This passage is widely circulated on the Internet, probably because it hit many people with reading mistakes.
Using reading to guide life, using life to examine reading, I think, this is the virtuous circle and interaction between reading and life.
Zhu Xi said, "The door to entering the Dao is to plunge oneself into that truth, to gradually become intimate with oneself, and to become one with oneself." ”
We should read with problems, not just for entertainment. For example, when educating children, there is a dilemma, at this time, through continuous reading and learning to master the knowledge of educational theory and child psychology and other relevant aspects, theoretical knowledge plus their own hands-on practice, maybe they have become experts. How can such a reading still not be remembered?
There is poetry and bookishness in the belly. People always emphasize the learning role and elegant pursuit of reading, often ignoring the life function of books, it seems that not many people choose to crack through reading when they encounter confusion in life, and not many people regulate by reading when they are depressed.
Li Gongpu advocated the "experimental reading method", he said: "Experimental reading is to combine reading with the three things of being a person, doing things and seeking progress, and only then can we truly read books and seek real knowledge." ”
Don't distance life from reading too far, but also need to get closer, and then get closer.
Read in life. Reading is to live better!
Fifth, read critically
Reading is a two-way interaction, not just books instilling their theoretical knowledge into readers.
Wang Guowei said: There are only regrets in life, and when knowledge increases, it is only doubtful.
Schopenhauer said: "When we read, it is others who take our place in our thoughts, and we merely repeat the process of his thought activity, just as when a child is enlightened to learn to write, he draws a gourd with a pen according to the strokes written by the teacher with a pencil." A large part of our intellectual activity is dispensed with when reading. Therefore, when we take a book to read without thinking for a while, we feel very relaxed, but when we read a book, our mind actually becomes a playground for other people's thoughts. Therefore, the more people who read books, or who are immersed in reading all day, although they can use it to recuperate their spirits, their thinking ability will gradually be lost, just as the walking ability of people who often ride horses must be poor, and the reason is the same. ”
In fact, the ills of reading that Schopenhauer talked about were discussed by Zhu Xi, who had already discussed it more than seven hundred years earlier, and Zhu Xi believed that reading "to be extensive and not to seek refinement" was taboo, "Reading too much, such as a person who is sick in bed, and the doctors are mixed up, and a hundred medicines are handed over, and there is absolutely no reason to see results." The solution he proposed is to "read the words, not to be accommodated, I see the prescription is credible." You must dive in and play to have a place to see. Otherwise, people say that sand can cook, and I also say that sand can cook, how can it be eaten? ”
Reading books must not only delve deeply and play repeatedly, but also dare to question, and you can't believe what is said in the book. The purpose of reading is to think, and if reading cannot be exchanged for thinking, it is really a lively pastime, or the head becomes a beautiful container full of all kinds of knowledge. As Locke said, "Reading is only the material that provides the mind with knowledge; thinking makes what we read our own."
Only by thinking, digesting, and converting the words in the book into your own things can you not become a nerd. Confucius said, "To learn without thinking is to be reckless, and to think without learning is to perish." "Just reading and not thinking, the head becomes someone else's racetrack, and just thinking without reading, the head is empty, and it is difficult for a woman to cook without rice." A classmate likes to read since he was a child, and when he is older, he still does not give up books, and some people evaluate him as a book idiot in the impression of his friends. Since he was doing the work of writing materials in the organs, I advised him: "Since you write all day, why don't you write something of your own?" He said, "But there's nothing to write about." "Do you have no feelings when you read those books?" "I don't have any feelings." This should belong to Confucius's saying that learning without thinking is reckless.
Gu Jiegang said, "Our reading is to borrow the records in the books to find a way to seek knowledge, not to ask the books to discipline our thinking." When you read, you have to be suspicious everywhere. In other words, when reading a book, you will criticize it with your own thoughts everywhere. As long as we dare to criticize, we can distinguish which sentence is right, which sentence is wrong, and which sentence can be left for negotiation. These meanings can be written on the end of the book or in a notebook. When there is any doubt, check it for it. If there is any problem in your mind, study it yourself. Such a person who is not afraid to do it, willing to write and turn it over, can cultivate his own creativity. After a few years, I naturally had the ability to control and apply this knowledge. ”
Li Ao said: "I think one of the most important ways for us to be unlearned by others is to cultivate the ability to read, read and seek knowledge, pursue the truth, and turn our minds into kings that are not bad and golden guns, so as to reduce the chances of others to deceive us." Otherwise, those who have been deceived by others all day long, from the ancients to the present, from Chinese to foreigners, have come to deceive us and can deceive us. ”
Zheng Xuan said: "If you don't understand what you learn, you can easily forget it." "Reading, you must think, do not think, naturally you will be sloppy, and you must dare to question."
Books are not meant to be remembered
Zeng Guofan believes that reading is not a strong memory, and it is also the way to maintain oneself. In a letter to his brother, he wrote:
Zhi Di believed that he was not in good health. I say that reading books does not seek to remember, which is also the way to maintain oneself. Whoever seeks to be a strong reporter still has a heart of good name that lies in every inch, so he cannot remember; if he has no name at all, he can remember it, and he can remember it without remembering it, and this heart is wide and comfortable, or he can remember one or two places, and it is not known. This afterword also. Zhi di tried to experience it.
When Cheng Ruilin, the first dean of Jinan University Business School, went to school, he always sharpened his gun and used surprise recitation to take the exam. When it came to the fourth grade of middle school, suddenly 'uneasy with the school', when the representative of the student union often went out to meetings, the homework gradually blurred, when it came to the exam, he secretly lit a candle at night, and took out the skill of 'strong memory' to cope with the third day's exam. Mr. Pingsu, the school superintendent, was very serious about me, knew that I had neglected my homework because I was a representative, and twice advised me to study with peace of mind and not to use the cleverness of strong memorization to cope with the exam, but I sneered at it darkly. ”
Cheng Ruilin later concluded: "Reading books cannot still be remembered strongly - strong memorization is equivalent to rushing through the field, coming fast, going fast, absolutely can not have a profound impact, so all those who remember strongly to prepare for the exam, once the exam is over, what they have learned is also finished." Moreover, this method makes the brain overuse for a while, and loses the right track of tension, which is extremely harmful to the brain. ”
Lao She said that she read quickly and did not remember. "If I want to remember all the books, why should I do them?" Books should remember themselves. To me, the most annoying question is: 'Where is that allusion?' ''Where did that sentence come about?' I would never answer such a question, even if I remembered it. I'm not a printing machine, so I'm not here for you! ”
Man's head is not a machine for loading books, and the real reading is not reading for the sake of remembering, otherwise man would not have become a slave to books.
John Locke said in the book "Educational Tales": "Learning words can only rely on reading and talking, not sporadically and by rote that some writers can learn well, and once a person's head is stuffed with this kind of thing, he is given a pedantic ornament, and can make him a pedant." There is nothing in the world that is more unworthy of a gentleman. Because one's own material is empty, but the rich and beautiful thoughts and words of others are mixed in, what is more ridiculous in the world. The result is in vain more expression of its own emptiness, there is no element of elegance in it, and it cannot be said that it is the same as an old brown cloth top, but to go to a large piece of gold brilliant satin. Young students come across an article worth remembering, its performance is very compact, very beautiful (among ancient writers, there are many such articles), they write down with their hearts, and it is naturally possible to train students' memories with such good articles of great writers. But I see no use in asking them to memorize books indiscriminately and indiscriminately, and as a result they waste their time and energy in vain, and make them hate books because they can only get useless trouble from them. ”
There are always people who do not read books on the pretext of not being able to remember, saying: When they are older, they have passed the age of reading and learning, and they cannot remember after reading. As everyone knows, there are many people who are eighty or ninety years old and are still reading and studying. Zhang Zhidong said: "Don't be bad at reading. Whenever I see people who are not good readers, I use this excuse. This deception also deceives people. A leaf of a diary, a volume of a monthly journal. Within ten years, more than a hundred volumes can be recorded. No, not ears. Zhu Zhuyuan has a saying: Is there a person in the world who will never forget at a glance and never forget a word? But it is necessary to choose the ear that is cut to the point. ZhuYuan was the first Liberal scholar of the dynasty. It says so, in order to inform scholars. Although "although" a leaf of the diary, a volume of the monthly record. Within ten years, more than a hundred volumes can be remembered" Is not wrong to settle accounts like this, but "it is not impossible, it is not for the ear" is not bad.