Sull Kaak’s Podcast – Season 2 – How to Read a Book

This is a commentary on my summary of the classic written by Adler and Doren “How to Read a Book”.. The topic has been covered in 11 parts. Click the titles below the trailer to visit the individual pages.

Information Destroys Learning | Sull Kaak’s Podcast | S02E01

The fundamental problem that lies beneath almost every issue plaguing the human society in these days and times is somehow related with the ideas of knowledge and education. The massive information explosion and the fast media through which it can flow have made knowledge very easy to acquire, or so it may seem. Listen to this episode to see how information explosion has destroyed learning.

Become a Thinker | Sull Kaak’s Podcast | S02E02

The first and by far the most neglected aspect of acquiring knowledge is that of “thinking”. Without this faculty being applied all that remains is “propaganda”. For the same information acquired through application of critical thinking “education” emerges. What is unfortunate is that the media most of us use for “educating” ourselves is the same which makes thinking almost unnecessary. This applies to all the YouTube videos (even the “educational” ones) or the Newshour “debates” or panel “discussions” to which we are glued.

Theoretical Versus Practical | Sull Kaak’s Podcast | S02E03

Fast paced life has made people’s minds prejudicial towards philosophy, which people see as “all theory” with little or no significance in real life. This line of thinking is also an outcome of the flawed ways of acquiring knowledge. The propaganda that flows in through various media tries to show knowledge in such a simplistic way that theory behind an idea seems irrelevant and unnecessary. The idea that emerges in the mind, and you the reader are a victim of it as well, is that “theoretical” means “visionary” or even “mystical” which is again understood as “inapplicable to practical life” or “utopian”. I have personally come across hundreds of occasion where people who are otherwise considered well “read” have commented that most of what I say is “theoretical” meaning “impractical”. “Practical” in such a setting is understood as “something that works”. What is forgotten in such a line of thinking is that all action is preceded by some sort of thought – that a will emerges first and then the action.

Author Has Hidden Intentions | Sull Kaak’s Podcast | S02E04

In judging the theories that are put forward, in a book or otherwise the reader must identify the identity of, or the discrepancy between, his own basic principles or assumptions and those of the person who puts forward the theory. For example, if you don’t share Karl Marx’s fervor about Economic Justice, his economic doctrine and the reforms it suggests are likely to seem to you practically false or irrelevant. Hence we as knowledge seekers or the dumping sites of all information have to ask – One, what the author’s objectives are and – Two, what means he is employing to achieving the objective.

Students Can’t Even Read | Sull Kaak’s Podcast | S02E05

The failure to develop the habit of reading or to read effectively at all has reached epidemic proportions. This hasn’t just swept our part of the world but the world which we otherwise consider “developed”. Put any student to reading a thoroughly engaging argument and he fails to comprehend anything. What makes such a failure even more dangerous is when it is coming from those who the society by and large considers educated.

The Educated Are Ignorant | Sull Kaak’s Podcast | S02E06

I am afraid I must say that I am talking about professors, lecturers, lawyers, journalists, researchers, editors, writers and all the flag bearers of modern intellectualism, with due and respectable exceptions. The majority of these highly “educated” individuals would be able to skim through fiction, say Chetan Bhagat, and make them have a reading of Shakespeare or Shelley, they fail. Put them against a closely written exposition, a carefully and economically stated argument, or a passage requiring critical consideration, and they are at loss. These individuals are dangerous for they don’t understand their ignorance – the doctoral ignorance.

From Literate to Educated | Sull Kaak’s Podcast | S02E07

The common knowledge and the common experience of this generation is entirely based upon propaganda from previous decades. These “well educated” ones of today, thoroughly and entirely believe with all their conviction whatever they believe in. There is an opinion which they think is original to them, having emerged out of free thinking, while the truth remains that almost all the common knowledge is based on mere propaganda. It is because of this reason I say that most of us are well read, literate, somewhat educated, but ignorant with little or no understanding. Why we don’t think that is the case is because of the common knowledge and common experience which we share. Within all ignorant people, a person with little knowledge is, confirming to common knowledge is considered highly educated.

Inspecting a Text | Sull Kaak’s Podcast | S02E08

The second level of reading is the true level of reading – Inspectional Reading. You cannot read at inspectional level if you cannot read at elementary level. This level of reading emphasizes more on time than on understanding itself; nevertheless it forms an important part of understanding the book. The question that the reader tries to answer is, “What is the book about?” The reader doesn’t understand the nuances of the book, however he has a fair idea of what the book is about once he finishes this reading. There are two types of inspectional reading.

Become a Demanding Reader | Sull Kaak’s Podcast | S02E09

A demanding reader asks a book four questions as and when he is reading and by the time he has finished he knows the answers precisely and accurately.

1. What is the book about as a whole? (This includes knowing the themes of the book)
2. What is being said in detail and how? (This includes knowing the main arguments)
3. Is the book true, in whole or in part? (You have to know what is being said before you decide. You should have good answers to first two questions, only then can this question be answered. You have to make up your mind on what the author is saying. Now you realize that most of us who make opinions or criticize books or ideals do so even when we are not able to answer the second question. Hence the wrong judgments!)
4. What of it? (This includes knowing the significance of what is being said. Why is it important to know what the author wants you to know? What further implications?)

Analysing a Text | Sull Kaak’s Podcast | S02E10

The first stage of analytical reading is finding what the book is about.

Rule 1: You must know what kind of book you are reading, and you should know this early in the process preferably before you even begin. It is not just knowing whether the book is fiction or non-fiction, it is knowing what themes are involved. For instance, many novels though a part of fiction deal with philosophy, psychology, politics, sociology etc. You would have followed rule one if you have done a genuine inspectional reading.

Rule 2: State the unity of the whole book in a single sentence, or at the most few sentences. This is to describe the theme or the main point of the book.

Rule 3: Set forth the major parts of the book and show how these are organized into a whole, by being ordered to one another and to the unity of the whole. 

Rule 4: Find out what the author’s questions were. Author starts with a question and answers it in the book.

Be an Enlightened Reader | Sull Kaak’s Podcast | S02E11

A complete understanding of a book requires the final work of criticism, the work of judging. Till now you have been following the author, keeping your eyes and mind open and your mouth shut. From now onwards you are going to present yourself and argue with the author in the fourth and the final stage of reading of which the rules are discussed in this final episode.