I am a professor of psychology. I know some things about the field. At the same time, I don't know that much more than before I was a professor. Something about it though has changed the way I read. Now when I read psychology, I seek to affirm or reject my theories about it, or I seek to confirm or reject other people's ideas about it. I play with ideas in such a way. I recommend this tip to you as well.
Read like you are seeking some kind of validation. I know what you're thinking: Seeking validation is never good. However, self-referential processing improves our memory greatly. In shifting to this strategy I was able to actually enjoy a very dense work on consciousness that I read previously and did not enjoy (Bernard Baars's Cogntive Theory of Consciousness). Now I read it as a pleasure. I seek to feel good reading. I seek to really know about myself and others. That's as good a goal as any. My old adviser used to say, "research is me-search." So be it.
No comments:
Post a Comment