Telos by Shrikant Kumar
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  1. The Library in the Air
  2. A Factory for Other People’s Ideas
  3. The Blue Dot
  4. Paying a Stranger
  5. A Computer of One’s Own

The library

Book notes

A book that argues asks to be weighed. One that teaches asks to be practised; one that bears witness asks to be heard. So these notes are not all made the same way. Choose how you want to read, and the shelf will follow.

Seven ways to read a book · 68 notes

  1. I 8 Weigh a case Argument For books that argue. Follow the reasoning and see what it rests on. Amusing Ourselves to Death · Antifragile · Breakneck
  2. II 11 Put it to use Practice For books meant to change what you do on Monday morning. Atomic Habits · Deep Work · High Output Management
  3. III 10 Follow the decisions Turning points For stories, read as a chain of choices made without hindsight. American Prometheus · Chip War · Creativity, Inc.
  4. IV 9 Train the mind Exercises For books that work by repetition, a little each day. Four Thousand Weeks · Letters from a Stoic · Meditations
  5. V 15 Borrow a lens Model For books that change what you notice once you have read them. 7 Powers · Factfulness · How Big Things Get Done
  6. VI 5 Listen to a witness Witness For testimony, where the first duty of a reader is attention. Being Mortal · Educated · Man's Search for Meaning
  7. VII 10 Follow a question Inquiry For books that chase one large question as far as it goes. An Immense World · Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst · Civilization and Its Discontents

All seven ways I · Argument

Weigh a case

The book makes a case. The note follows the case step by step and names what it rests on.

  1. The claim
  2. How the case is built
  3. What it takes for granted
  4. Since it was published
  5. What it asks of someone deciding

All seven ways II · Practice

Put it to use

The book is meant to be used. The note sets out the practices and the idea that holds them together.

  1. The problem it starts from
  2. The practices
  3. The idea underneath
  4. Since it was published
  5. A first step

All seven ways III · Turning points

Follow the decisions

The book tells a story. The note follows the decisions inside it, judged by what was known at the time.

  1. The story in brief
  2. The decisions that made it
  3. What the book sees in them
  4. Since it was published
  5. What it asks of someone deciding

All seven ways IV · Exercises

Train the mind

The book is a training in how to live. The note collects its exercises and the picture of a life behind them.

  1. The trouble it addresses
  2. The exercises
  3. The picture of a life behind them
  4. Carrying it into ordinary work

All seven ways V · Model

Borrow a lens

The book gives a way of seeing. The note lays out the model, shows it at work and marks where it stops.

  1. The model
  2. Seeing with it
  3. Where the model stops
  4. Since it was published
  5. Questions it lets you ask

All seven ways VI · Witness

Listen to a witness

The book is testimony. The note stays close to what it shows and to the questions it leaves.

  1. What the book bears witness to
  2. What it shows
  3. The questions it leaves
  4. What it changes in how you see others

All seven ways VII · Inquiry

Follow a question

The book pursues a large question. The note traces the route it takes and where it arrives.

  1. The question
  2. The path through it
  3. Where it arrives
  4. What remains open
  5. What it asks of someone deciding

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