Reading has always been a form of education.
You can learn economics, philosophy, psychology, history, and hundreds of other subjects by reading books. And you should.
To start, you should read whatever you enjoy reading. As you establish the habit, you can read more serious things when you feel like it, and less serious things when you don’t. The habit is what matters.
Particularly in today’s world, reading offers even more.
It’s a way of mediating, without seeming like one. A kind of intermediate step, where your mind is distracted, so you don’t really know you’re meditating.
It’s like a fun game of soccer with friends. It feels like play as you chase and kick a ball with friends, but afterwards you realize you got an hour of exercise.
Reading is also a way to practice deep work, when we ignore the constant urge to check our phone notifications, or the latest messages from colleagues.
If you can shut out the noise and focus on a book, you can do the same with your work.
Reading can calm the mind, build the muscle required to do deep, focused work, and teach you about the world.
As Charlie Munger put it: “I don’t know anyone who’s wise who doesn’t read a lot.”
