- You will
- probably not
- learn anything meaningful
- from
- reading lists
It seems that list articles are very popular online. ”Top 8 games for iPad”. ”10 signs you’re on a bad date”. ”Top 50 list of Top 10 lists”.
The format lends itself to the information hungry, shallow, skimaholic readers. I hate skimming, it is a false promise. You don’t think deeply while skimming, you are just looking for the next heading which you mold to fit your pre-existing thesis. In the end you have not really learned anything, you haven’t considered any new viewpoints, just reinforced old ones.
Consider this article by John Gruber on the iPad. It’s thorough. Hell, by internet standards it’s War and Peace. But if you allot the time to focus and contemplate the contents of the article it will send your mind into a tizzy chewing on new ideas. You think first about the iPad, then the mobile market, and then software development on whole. It feels like connecting synapses in your brain.
Top Ways to Learn Something Online
- Forget lists.
