How do you take notes while reading?

How do you take notes while reading?

I don't. I'm not a brainlet.

No, you are. People with good brains know how fallible memory is, so they write stuff down in order to analyze and synthesize what they read.

>people with good brains know they have bad brains.

Your meme sucks. Even the Greeks laughed at any brainlet who needed to write shit down. They knew it lead to memory weakness.

When all of your knowledge comes from dialogue, then you can analyze and synthesize it as you're receiving it. It's an intellectually engaging process. If you're getting your information from a book, it's a single-directional process that encourages mental passivity.

So if you want to follow the Greek example, don't read at all. Only get your knowledge via debate and conversation.

I actually have enough of a memory to where I can read a book once through and pull pages where a specific passage was put and so I read something once and then go back and take notes on it

Those notes are distilled mediocrity. The utter mindlessness of the pursuit. Burn them.

As for taking notes while reading, I usually don't due to inconvenience, though I tend to have a couple of stick-it notes on the first page of the book for important stuff.

They aren't mind. I just googled "taking notes" and chose a random image.

I started taking notes recently and it's insane how much the simple act of writing something down places it firmly in your head. It's especially helpful to write down names and single-sentence descriptions of characters if the novel you're reading has a large cast

Using the paragraph breaks or chapter/section breaks. If I was taking notes on a book I'd sit and reflect for a minute on what I've read after each chapter, reread anything I'm foggy on, and then take a minute to write down reflections of my thoughts and key points of interest. Afterwards, if the structure allows it, I would map out concepts within the book and relations between characters and the general development of the story. After a paragraph or section I would write down notable lines or attractive prose. Would not stop to write notes in the middle of reading or write in the book since it will upset later rereads as I know from buying too many used books.

A page for information; a page for relations. Keeps characters and storyline from getting skewed.

* - aesthetically notable
] - etymologically interesting
} - thematic element
> - relationship to another author
) - personal meaning or relevance own ideas

If you make things too explicit you have to do with how embarrassingly dumb you were five years earlier.

>you have to do with how embarrassingly dumb you were five years earlier.
This is encouraging as fuck though. Seeing how much smarter I am years later is part of what keeps me motivated. I can document my growth through my notes.

I reread through some old highschool books that I was forced to annotate and God that was the worse idea I've ever had. I wouldn't worry about what you were, but instead worry about what you are now.

>I wouldn't worry about what you were, but instead worry about what you are now.
If what I am now isn't any different that what I was then, then the hard work required for true scholarship (not just casual reading) wouldn't be worth the trouble.

You're under the notion that measuring your personal growth off of old thoughts is accurate. I think you're just reassuring yourself that you're smarter than you were when that won't necessarily be true. You just have different but possibly equally as stupid thoughts about the same or a different topic.

I think certain characteristics do indicate being better educated, like a larger vocabulary and a wider base of knowledge which I can use to draw connections between distinct works and ideas. I'd define that as being "smarter"

Only take notes the second time I read something. The first time I am tempted to highlight things that will be repeated later on and skip the nuances.

It's just a document of your past retardation, really.
If I make my notes too explicit I'll usually find them outdated and stupid as early as next month.
Pic related is a collection of short stories I picked up for free on campus. My guess is the Hemingway story was part of a course somewhere because it's the only story that's been annotated, and it definitely showcases what I would call bad/pointless annotation which doesn't contribute anything upon a second reading.

>That is all they do.
Lit crit meme potential.

Why?

Apparently you've never read anything more complex than a comic book. If you read Nicomachean Ethics, you might want to take notes. Would be helpful also with works like Iliad. Many such cases.

I see. I read the Iliad and Aristoteles' work in high school and we had to take notes. I'd only write down notes in my free time if I felt I could use the info to write analysis of stuff I'm interested in. In that case I'd just use the computer's memo pad or scribble in the margin.

For instance Lars Fr. H. Svendsen's A philosophy of evil is great when you are trying to figure out if Hody Jones is a good villain or not.

Writing things down actually makes your memory worse because you come to rely on what has been written instead of your own ability to recall. You never train to remember.

Yeah I thought it was cute when I found it as well.
Outside of the Hemingway story, the only notes the person made were on pic related, the fucking contents, while the story itself seems unread.

>memes

I have no real system. I just pretend that I'm preparing for a debate or that I have to teach other people the things that I'm reading and that helps me zero in on stuff that's worth remembering. I've been learning teeline too so I'm always looking for things to write about and get some practice in. I don't know why they're not teaching this shit in schools because its insanely helpful.

Stolen:

"When you are taking notes, don’t bother doing stupid things like highlighting or underlining sentences in the textbook. There is no evidence that it works. It just looks like work. What you need to do is to read for understanding. Read a bit, then write down what you have learned or any questions that have arisen in your mind. Don’t ever copy the source word for word. The most important part of learning and remembering is the recreation of what you have written in your own language. This is not some simplistic “use your own words.” This is the dialog you are having with the writer of your sources. This is your attempt to say back to the author “this is what I understand you are saying.” This is where you extract the gist of the writing.
If someone asks you about your day, you don’t say, “Well, first I opened my eyes. Then I blinked and rubbed them. Then I placed my left leg on the floor, and then my right.” You would bore them to death. Instead, you eliminate the extra detail, and concentrate on communicating what is important. That is exactly what you are supposed to be doing when you take some notes during or after reading (after is often better, with the book closed, so that you are not tempted to copy the author’s writing word for word so that you can fool yourself into thinking you did some work).
If you find note-taking in this manner difficult, try this. Read a paragraph. Look away. Then say to yourself, out loud, even in a whisper (if you are in a library), what the paragraph meant. Listen to what you said, and then quickly write it down."

Stick-its are gay

>he thinks he has the same memory the Greeks had
protip: you don't and you never will