I'm getting back into the rhythm of reading more consistently. I generally read for about 30-40 minutes in bed right before sleeping on my e-reader, regardless of fiction/non-fiction.
This made me think, for people who prefer physical books, do you underline, highlight, take notes in the margins, etc. when reading theory?
Back when I did have a few physical books I never wrote anything in them, I guess to keep them in "good" condition. Even in school books I only answered exercises in pencil, lol.
So I'm wondering: what approach do you have for reading theory?
- Is it more like reading and absorbing the information more passively, where you read in bed, at a park, while commuting, etc.?
- Or do you treat it more like studying where you're sitting at a desk or at a library, pen in hand with notes and such?
I'd love to hear your thoughts/approaches/advice regarding this.
I like to try to write articles about current events where I interpret them through the lens of a theory I'm currently reading. For example, I was recently reading Thinking in Systems, which provides a useful framework for thinking about dynamic systems. It describes systems as stocks with inflows and outflows, and shows how you can end up with complex systems by combining these building blocks. It also discusses how you can create different sorts of reinforcement or self-balancing loops based on how the flows are adjusted.
One key element that controls flows within economic systems is the timing of information. Delays and distortions experienced by the decision-maker controlling the flows can lead to oscillations. For example, a company might order too much of a product, then overcorrect by ordering too little, leading to increasingly large swings in inventory.
So, I started writing an article discussing how China's implementation of a digital yuan and digital tracking of commodities can be viewed through this lens. Traditionally, supply chains have been opaque. You might order goods from a manufacturer but have no visibility into their status, tying up large volumes of capital while the goods are being processed. With the real-time tracking systems China is implementing, this problem largely goes away. There's increased transparency in the process, and payments can be tied directly to each stage of the supply chain, reducing the need for operating capital.
I find trying to apply what I'm learning to some real world context is really helpful for actually developing intuition regarding the idea you're trying to learn.