When you are reading a book that contains several ideas/understandings/concepts that may conflict with yours, on the subjects that are sensitive to you (lets say religious or political etc). Now, there are times when you come across writers point of view that you think are totally absurd and you want to throw the book away. The reason could be, you are certain writer has no idea what s/he is talking about or it could simply be ‘arrogance’ on your end.
How do you, convince yourself for not only to read on, but also, try to be as rational as you possibly can? And try to find balance and reasoning why the writer has come to a certain conclusion? And be able to question yourself as well if you need the rectification.
My belief is that knowledge is of huge importance and even though you may disagree with the what the book says, it MAY help you rationalise or re-assess or confirm your particular views even though they may be the total opposite of what the book says.
However I do feel that there are some books that should just be thrown away, just because its been published...doesnt mean its worth reading.
If you feel the writer is a moron, and you are not going to learn anything new after reading the book in its entirety, then cut your losses and run. However, before returning the book to the library, do peek at the last chapter to make sure your initial conclusions were correct.
Faisal pra : The writer is not really a moron, he certainly has a vast knowledge about the related subjects and he provides references (few of which i can varify and are correct) and for the rest i assume they will be.
The problem starts when, how he perceives his understanding from the references, whilst the same reference creates a obvious diffrent meaning for me. Sometimes he does end up with a similar understanding of the subject as i. (So u see when he agrees its like ‘see now he agrees’ & when he doesnt u feel like he is stupid) But then he is an outsider and i want to understand his reasoning for his conclusions, but when i m totally refusing his conclusion i m not giving him a fair chance that i m trying to understand his reasoning.
Understanding reasoning doesnt mean i will endup beleiving on his conclusions rather it will help me to explain my understandings better and help me question mine so the result will be a better understanding (not to mention will help me to explain the same thing in a diffrent manner next time i talk about it)
So far what i have been doing is simply when i come across something i cant stand i just close the book & let myself calm down before i restart, but this is taking too long :o
Read a book as you are going to write a review about it. That way you will be able to pick up both its good and bad points.
You already said it yourself JB: Reality and perception change from person to person. However, an impartial (of such person exists) outsider has better chances of understanding an issue because he sees the bigger picture as compared to a person who is deeply involved in the issue.
Jony, my beloved brother! While reading a book, write comments like ‘absurd opinion’ , ‘no facts to support this claim’ .. ‘total BS’ .. ‘again being a jerk’ .. ‘good point’ ‘nicely put’ on the margin of the page that way you can vent your frustration and at the same time if someone else picks up the book from your shelf, he or she knows your thoughts along with the authors.
But please don’t do that to the library books. :halo:
ke eik eik page pe likhta phiroon 