This is very useful advice. I’m still a student, and I’ve frequently tried to employ my own curiosity to learn about whatever it is we’re studying in class. I’m actually in an interesting honors program, outside my own major (chemistry) that is interdisciplinary. We have to study everything from philosophy to astrophysics. Right now I’m in a World Literature class, and I’m wondering if anyone can give me any advice on activating my curiosity about whatever book I’m supposed to be reading. I’m a fast reader, and I will sometimes enjoy the book we’re reading (assuming it’s any good, and many classics are not), but I’m typically not actively “chasing something”.
Considering most of us here are science people, there probably are not a whole lot of individuals with large backgrounds in literature, but if anyone has a good idea for something to chase while I’m reading, it would be greatly appreciated.
When I’m reading fiction that I enjoy, I’ll try to predict what’s going to happen next (if it’s a plot-based book, i.e. mystery/thriller) or imagine mini-scenarios with the characters (if it’s a character-development based book, i.e. most literature.) Ask yourself “Why did the author choose to have this character do this action? How did he/she make it plausible that this character would act in this way? Was it rational for the character to act this way? If not, what is causing them to act irrationally? Is there any other action the character could have taken that would have served the same plot purpose and been more ‘in character’.”
It makes it easier to be actively curious about reading fiction if you also write it. I don’t suppose being good at writing fiction is important; it’s the process, the mindset. You could try writing fanfiction of classics where the main characters are rationalists; that could be very interesting!
That is a very good idea. We recently read Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther and Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground, and I wound up writing an essay basically on just how irrational the characters were, and found it to be a very interesting and engaging topic. While I was thinking about that, I was more engaged with the book. I don’t write much fiction, but I do enjoy it when I’m doing so. For a writing competition a while ago, I wrote my own version of the Faustian legend (the original version of selling your soul to the devil) with the protagonist being a rationalist and a transhumanist.
This is very useful advice. I’m still a student, and I’ve frequently tried to employ my own curiosity to learn about whatever it is we’re studying in class. I’m actually in an interesting honors program, outside my own major (chemistry) that is interdisciplinary. We have to study everything from philosophy to astrophysics. Right now I’m in a World Literature class, and I’m wondering if anyone can give me any advice on activating my curiosity about whatever book I’m supposed to be reading. I’m a fast reader, and I will sometimes enjoy the book we’re reading (assuming it’s any good, and many classics are not), but I’m typically not actively “chasing something”.
Considering most of us here are science people, there probably are not a whole lot of individuals with large backgrounds in literature, but if anyone has a good idea for something to chase while I’m reading, it would be greatly appreciated.
When I’m reading fiction that I enjoy, I’ll try to predict what’s going to happen next (if it’s a plot-based book, i.e. mystery/thriller) or imagine mini-scenarios with the characters (if it’s a character-development based book, i.e. most literature.) Ask yourself “Why did the author choose to have this character do this action? How did he/she make it plausible that this character would act in this way? Was it rational for the character to act this way? If not, what is causing them to act irrationally? Is there any other action the character could have taken that would have served the same plot purpose and been more ‘in character’.”
It makes it easier to be actively curious about reading fiction if you also write it. I don’t suppose being good at writing fiction is important; it’s the process, the mindset. You could try writing fanfiction of classics where the main characters are rationalists; that could be very interesting!
That is a very good idea. We recently read Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther and Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground, and I wound up writing an essay basically on just how irrational the characters were, and found it to be a very interesting and engaging topic. While I was thinking about that, I was more engaged with the book. I don’t write much fiction, but I do enjoy it when I’m doing so. For a writing competition a while ago, I wrote my own version of the Faustian legend (the original version of selling your soul to the devil) with the protagonist being a rationalist and a transhumanist.
Thanks! (Upvoted)
It can be very interesting to suspend disbelief and critically look at a classic work; I did it once for The Tale of Genji: http://www.gwern.net/Notes.html#a-secular-humanist-reads-the-tale-of-genji