For me - it is a visceral thing, I don't try too hard to remember anything.
But I end up retaining some associations, a kind of mood, and I also tend to grasp the tendencies and attitudes of the author.
So in a way I read between the lines a lot. I am able to read with a kind of generosity of spirit (forgiving, listening, giving charitable interpretations, etc)
This way - I end up forming the most profitable kinds of memories - something that may help me live my own life and solve problems of interest better.
Reading transports you to a different reality than your present (in psychological/experiential dimension).
Adding to that: Write down what you want to get out of the book, for example "Learn how to do X" or "Understand how Y works". This turns passive reading into actively looking for information.
It also helps to work with the ideas in other ways while reading (like taking notes, creating presentations, or writing programs).
I'm currently reading about production scheduling and in parallel writing a toy production scheduling system to make the concepts "click".
I asked this mostly for self help books, like time management and others. Obv you would need to remember and act what was discussed in the book to get any benefit from that.
You're supposed to read these books multiple times. You read the first time to get a general understanding. And then you reference things within the book as they pop up as ideas you want to remember more about. No one remembers the details of anything they read the first time. It's about constant exposure. Some things however, are important for shaping your general thought processes, but not important enough to remember specifically
Why read a book if you're not going to remember it? If you want someone to tell you what to do, that's what articles and tweets are for. Books are meant to go into depth.
Books are the most efficient way to experience other people's living and learn from it. You don't memorize your past experiences just like you don't need to memorize a book to get influenced.
It's kind of a circular definition, but the parts that are important enough to me to remember are the ones that I remember.
Now, if I'm trying to get some specific information, I will often write it down somewhere when I find it.
If it's something like language syntax, the pieces of syntax that I use all the time are the ones that I remember. The ones I don't, well, I know where the book is, and if I need that bit, I'll look it up when I need it.
After reading a book a few times, you start to notice things you missed previously. There's always some new detail.
Back when I was making gears I had a set of 3 of the books in the late Eric Flint's 1632 series I read in rotation over lunch breaks. It was slow enough due to the limited time that I'd have forgotten things enough to make it interesting again each time.
This is why churches teach the same lessons every year in a great cycle, the liturgical calendar, to get them to stick
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If I’m learning from a textbook or something I take notes. If I’m learning to do something then I try to do the thing. Remembering the book isn’t important, learning to do the thing is important. If I’m reading for pleasure I just read.
I've noticed that individuals who put in extra effort to organize and remember information from a book are often content creators on platforms like YouTube. They frequently promote note-taking tools such as Notion or Obsidian.
I just do, the same way I can remember most (not all) scenes of a given television episode forever after seeing it once. It is just the nature of intelligence. Memory in not observability though, and so more can be gained from a second reading/viewing.
Chimpanzees, for example, have photographic memory. They remember absolutely everything. Photographic memory is not likely for corvids but their memory may well be superior to humans as well. In that regard they are more intelligent than humans but lack the tools in their toolbox to achieve superior mechanical or functional output.
I wrote about it here: https://rishikeshs.com/readwise-review/
[1] https://readwise.io/rishikesh/
But I end up retaining some associations, a kind of mood, and I also tend to grasp the tendencies and attitudes of the author.
So in a way I read between the lines a lot. I am able to read with a kind of generosity of spirit (forgiving, listening, giving charitable interpretations, etc)
This way - I end up forming the most profitable kinds of memories - something that may help me live my own life and solve problems of interest better.
Reading transports you to a different reality than your present (in psychological/experiential dimension).
Which is very important for invention and such.
2. I paraphrase and write down the most important passages in my notes. Paraphrasing is important for memorization and understanding for me.
3. I go back and read highlights after some time and repeat the process.
It also helps to work with the ideas in other ways while reading (like taking notes, creating presentations, or writing programs).
I'm currently reading about production scheduling and in parallel writing a toy production scheduling system to make the concepts "click".
It's kind of a circular definition, but the parts that are important enough to me to remember are the ones that I remember.
Now, if I'm trying to get some specific information, I will often write it down somewhere when I find it.
If it's something like language syntax, the pieces of syntax that I use all the time are the ones that I remember. The ones I don't, well, I know where the book is, and if I need that bit, I'll look it up when I need it.
For non fiction that is usually obvious. If there are not set exercises then make some challenges up.
For fiction. Maybe a character map? Or make a list of characters and notes against each.
Back when I was making gears I had a set of 3 of the books in the late Eric Flint's 1632 series I read in rotation over lunch breaks. It was slow enough due to the limited time that I'd have forgotten things enough to make it interesting again each time.
This is why churches teach the same lessons every year in a great cycle, the liturgical calendar, to get them to stick .
Chimpanzees, for example, have photographic memory. They remember absolutely everything. Photographic memory is not likely for corvids but their memory may well be superior to humans as well. In that regard they are more intelligent than humans but lack the tools in their toolbox to achieve superior mechanical or functional output.