Yes, I was incorrect about Matuschak’s position. He commented on reddit here:
“I think Matuschak would say that, for the purpose of conveying information, it would be much more efficient to read a very short summary than to read an entire book.”
FWIW, I wouldn’t say that! Actually, my research for the last couple years has been predicated on the value of embedding focused learning interactions (i.e spaced repetition prompts) into extended narrative. The underlying theory isn’t (wasn’t!) salience-based, but basically I believe that strong understanding is produced with a rich network of connections and a meaningful emotional connection, both of which are promoted by narrative (but usually not by a very short summary).
Yes, I was incorrect about Matuschak’s position. He commented on reddit here:
Thanks for the link! :)