Reading ( conflicts time management )

When I was in high school I ( and others of my generation ) considered reading a waste of time. Teachers took every effort to convince us of the opposite.

There is only one way you can effectively change yourself and that is through reading.

Some of the best memories I have are somehow related to reading. Good times! I have read quite a few time management books. These books are primarily written for people who want to do better in life, i.e. change themselves into more productive people. In none of these books I have found the advice: "Read more". Strange. Anyway, I managed to undo the habit of reading. And that is bad.

In "The New Student Hat" Hubbard explains why people don't read, he talks about the strange sensations people experience when they sit down and attempt to read a book.

Amazing reactions occur when conscious effort is made to do this. Dullness, perception trouble, fogginess, sleep and even pains, emotions and convulsions can occur when one knowingly sets out to BE THERE AND COMFORTABLY PERCEIVE with the various parts of a subject.
These reactions discharge and vanish as one perseveres ( continues ) and at last, sometimes soon, sometimes after a long while, once can be there and perceive the component.

When I sit down with a book ( or device ) I get these sensations which only go away when I CAN OCCUPY MY MIND ON A (MATH-)PROBLEM. I know exactly what Hubbard means, I have to -simply sit there and read-, confront it.

Many years ago Goedel, Escher, Bach helped me to through a reading-barrier. This time I chose "Fearless Symmetry, Exposing the Hidden Patterns of Numbers, by Avner Ash and Robert Gross published by Princeton 2006.

I'll keep you posted about my struggle to become a reader again.