Books

Discuss
https://x.com/elizalian/status/1785776656558477644

Pragmatism (Security) at OP Labs.
Prev: ConsenSys & Coinbase.

Attribs: Friendly, curious, introverted, mid-witted.
Chans: /eth-security /maurelian /stoicism




Well, I think the point is in the phrasing, not about whether or not you can claim shared knowledge: https://x.com/elizalian/status/1785845546466390034

I often awkwardly say "I'm reading this book... well OK actually I'm listening to it". Appropriate or not, reading still feels like the superior form of processing.

@backpack put a bank in your pocket and use your money whenever, wherever, however without permission

icebreaker.xyz/notdevin

Fine, but then we can’t talk about the same thing we both understand, which makes no sense

janitor@ /middle-mgmt // web3 law stuff //
free Ross // free Assange // ☮︎ Ξ

lovelight.eth.limo

This is the take I agree most with. Being precise is good. 
Reading is not somehow superior to listening.

it bothers me to the extent that words have meanings and “read” by definition involves content in the written— and not spoken— form (occupational hazard!)

not a matter of hierarchy to me. listeners may not retain as well but they’re likely to have more breadth/exposure. a wash in the grand scheme🤓🎧

Is it still reading if it's brail too? Everyone still knows what you're talking about if you say you're reading a book but you're listening to it, the distinction is almost meaningless. It only takes a few syllables to clarify what mode you're precessing the info, whether photons, air vibrations, or bumps

The alternatives need fewer syllables or I'm just going to keep say "reading" 😁

"listening to" "audio-booking" "going through" or whatever is just too clunky and long IMO. I'd welcome a less ambiguous, more concise alternative, but I haven't come across any yet.

Loser take. Wrong. No. 
Book's a book however you consume it

Different people experience reading differently. Some people don't even have vivid imagery in their head! That's probably a bigger difference than reading vs listening. If anything, allowing people to choose their preferred method of consumption probably does more to normalize outcome through selection bias.

Just use air quotes and everything is good

We can say “I’m audioreading” or something else.

We need a new vocabulary

If we can have a conversation about the book then who cares. The class of books where actually reading the book in text makes a significant material impact on the info ingestion experience is negligible, and you'll know which books they are when discussing them.

Also, do we really want to create more barriers for people to get into reading books? Wack take imho

The all caps makes me disagree. If it were a pedantic argument it wouldn’t be shouted. It implies they are not equivalent, which is wrong.

You get the same content and process it largely the same way. You’ve read the book.