This is the most effective way to learn

Chapter 56

The method of differential treatment is a learning method that treats students differently according to their needs and improves their reading ability.

Due to the different types, properties, contents, and writing methods of books and periodicals, the needs of readers are different. Therefore, it is impossible to read them in the same way and in a unified way. They can only be treated differently according to specific situations.Classical works, representative works of disciplines, textbooks and other books should be carefully read chapter by chapter and section by chapter; while reference books and information books are only read and searched when the work requires them.From the needs of readers, there are great differences in the width and depth of reading, and various people have different reading purposes, requirements, depth, and breadth of various books and periodicals.

Therefore, we should bear in mind the principle of "never over-reading" before reading. There is a way to avoid over-reading, that is, whenever a book is popular with most readers, don't read it rashly.Such as being famous, or having several editions of a book in a year, whether it is political or religious, fiction or poetry.You must know that any relatively popular works are often popular with the public.It is better to devote precious time to reading the famous works of great men who have already been evaluated. Only these books are beneficial to open the book.This requires us to classify books and treat them differently.

The writer Mrs. Woolf reads in two steps
British writer Mrs. Woolf, there are two steps in reading: the first step is to open your mind as much as possible to accommodate the countless impressions the author has brought to yourself; the second step is to compare and judge.The second step is much more complicated and difficult than the first step. Only after extensive reading, sufficient comprehension and good memory can it be possible to make a vivid and powerful comparison.It is even more difficult to make an accurate evaluation of the work, pointing out its failures and successes, which part is its advantage and which part is its defect.For these two steps, Mrs. Woolf vividly compares them to being a "friend" and being a "judge".Being a "friend" is to understand the content of the book and get an impression.But that's only half of the reading process, and it's not okay to stop there.To get the full benefit from reading, further thinking and judgment is necessary.Initial impressions are sometimes unreliable.When people compare a book with other books, it means that attitudes have changed. Once a friend of the author, now they want to be a judge.We also can't be too strict.But some reading materials are exceptions. For those fake books, bad books, and bad books, the judgment on them must be severe.When evaluating a book, it is best to compare it with the best works of the same kind, not only to distinguish its advantages and disadvantages, but also to make those excellent works complement each other and leave a deeper impression on us.

Her reading method is actually a method of treating differently: treating good books as friends and bad books as enemies.

Alexandre Dumas concentrated on reading selected books

The famous French writer Alexandre Dumas has a set of selected reading methods.In the book "The Count of Monte Cristo", he created a learned and knowledgeable character, Elder Faria, and talked about such a reading method through the mouth of the elder: "In my study in Rome, I have nearly five thousand However, after reading them many times, I found that as long as a person has [-] selected books, he can have all the knowledge of human beings, at least all that is sufficient or should be known. I devoted [-] years of my life to studying these [-] books, and I didn’t stop until I had them all in my heart.” Here, he thinks that these [-] books can cover “all human knowledge”, which is obviously not enough science.However, Dumas paid attention to "reading selected good books", which is worth learning from.

Poet Ji Yu talks about reading

When the poet Ji Yu talked about reading, he believed that "there is no restricted area for reading, independent thinking is necessary, exposition is the most necessary, and intensive reading is very beneficial." He mainly writes poems and reads a lot of poems, but he also reads all interesting books. Partial eclipse, no taboo, and in certain periods of time, mainly read books other than poetry, love to read books on aesthetics, art theory, miscellaneous works, notes, etc., especially the biographies of people in them.As a literary youth, it is needless to say that he should read more literary books, but he must also read a little aesthetics and understand a little art theory. This is a very important and indispensable artistic accomplishment.If you don’t learn some aesthetics, how can you experience beauty, discover beauty, and sing beauty in life?A real writer will always master all kinds of martial arts, although it cannot be said that he is proficient in all eighteen martial arts, and he must not be like Li Kui, except for two axes and two fists.

He emphasized that there are too many books, and it is impossible to read them all.He will make different distinctions between books when he reads books. There are three main situations:

(1) Rough reading: browse, just know the title, author, and main content of the book.You can check when you use it, and you can find it;

(2) Read carefully: use pen and ink, draw circles, and copy key points;

(3) Read books often: I can’t put it down, read them almost whenever I have time, and think over and over again; read a book for a while before going to bed every day, and take books with me when I go out, and chew slowly.

The quality of books in the world is not the same. We should choose the best books to read, and don't waste our energy on second-rate and third-rate books.

(End of this chapter)