alexpotato 4 days ago

An "algorithm" that I used to great effect in business school was the following:

- Most well written books start each paragraph with a thesis statement

- The next couple sentences are usually in support of that thesis statement

- The final sentence of the paragraph is usually the thesis statement again

- Ergo, if you are in a hurry, just read the first sentence of each paragraph.

A friend had to read a book in only 3 hours and was lamenting that she didn't have time to read and I suggested the above.

She came back the next day and said:

"Everyone had only read the first 1/3 of the book but I had 'read' the whole thing and looked like a genius!"

PS I also made it through 3 out of the 4 semesters of business school without buying any of the books/pamphlets etc but that is a story for another time.

jackallis 4 days ago

dont people just read for fun; grab a book and streach out in the lawn, deck or beach and just read? why does it have to optimized, algorithmized, systamized?

  • Eddy_Viscosity2 3 hours ago

    Some books are not fun to read but are important to read. These strategies are for those ones, not the fun ones. People read fun books no problem.

mbeavitt 4 days ago

You can't tease me with "Algorithm" in the title and then not actually define an algorithm... TL;DR: Read lots of widely acclaimed books that are close to the source of what you want to learn?

  • sunrunner 4 days ago

    It's a reading equivalent to the Feynman Problem Solving Algorithm (which I personally think is really just a variant of the universal Nike Algorithm applied specifically to problem solving).

    • mbeavitt 4 days ago

      Is it though? The algorithm you reference is meant to be a joke:

      1) Write down the problem.

      2) Think real hard.

      3) Write down the solution.

      This is not a useful algorithm in any sense, apart from that it might be thought provoking.

      What's the "universal nike algorithm"? I didn't find anything on google.

      • _Algernon_ 4 days ago

        I assume it's a play on Nike's tag-line: "Just do it"

        • mbeavitt 4 days ago

          Oh, I get it. Missed the joke.