Second Opinion

One thing that I have never been fully able to wrap my head around is the aversion some people have to rereading books. In my personal experience, many of the people I know who read on a regular basis are happy to fly through a good book once, drop it off at the library and be done with it. I suppose if you are a fan of fiction you can get away with this. There are plenty of movies that I've seen once, enjoyed, and have no strong urge to see again. Unfortunately for me, my tastes lead me more often to non-fiction and the onslaught of facts that usually brings.

The problem with non-fiction is that, no matter how interested you are in the subject, no matter how diligently you read and reread passages, some of the information goes the way of Larry David's hair. That is to say, it falls out of your head. Recently it occured to me that one of my classes this semester will focus on the subject of a book that I tried reading a few years ago, Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. My first time through the book I have to admit, I wasn't all that interested. The subject matter is largely based on social psych studies and I had just come off four solid years of focusing on nothing but that. Needless to say, I shelved the book two thirds of the way through.

Reading the book over the past few days, however, has left me thoroughly enthralled. The findings are still familiar but the connections I am drawing are novel and interesting. Having learned more about evolution, ecology, economics, and environmentalism since my first attempt, I am seeing the information with new eyes. I am linking the concepts it presents to things I wasn't even aware of when I bought the book.

It really makes me wonder what I could draw from rereading the other books on my shelf. I reread my favourites often enough, but who is to say that books I was unimpressed with the first time around wouldn't offer more at this stage of my ongoing education?

I think we would all benefit from giving information a second look a little more often. As we grow older and learn more, our perspectives change. Information that seemed unimportant a few years ago might be life-changing now. It is important to recognize how much we grow as people based on the things we learn, and giving books a second look is the best method I can think of for staying open-minded and as informed as possible. Bookshelves are not trophy cases, they are meant to be points of reference that we can look back on as we form new opinions and rework old ideas.

I encourage you, avid reader, to reconsider some knowledge you might have glossed over in the past. Especially things that turned out to be less interesting than you expected. You might be impressed with what you find buried behind those old encyclopaedias... Does anyone still have encyclopaedias?

-Steve

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