For years I believed I need to spend more time reading/learning than thinking/blogging. However, now I believe there are important 学而不思-prone areas where that belief doesn’t apply. This blogpost uses examples to illustrate the principle that oftentimes, we need ThinkMoreReadLess.

Other titles: ThinkMoreReadLess, BlogMoreReadLess..

I advocate “read less” mostly due to Diminishing return. If you read more you are likely to end up 学而不思, not because of laziness.

— earliest example: parenting… a well-defined domain, where _applying_ is more important than learning
See my 2019 blogpost t-effi: blogg^facetime,思而不学
— Eg: Buddhism teaching .. is a very specific and well-defined domain, where practicing is more important than reading
Suppose you learn, say, 20 high-level (or 100 detailed) guidelines and memorize them, share them with friends and family. In contrast, I only learn a one high-level guideline (with a few detailed guidelines) and try to practice them in my daily life. Serious “practice” is a struggle, with lots of thinking, blogging, discussing. I don’t read much since I focus on one guideline only.
— Eg: /selfcare/ [motivation, anger, anxiety, ] .. blogging is more important than reading new content. There are thousands of books but we may need to read only 1 or 10.
Many people use chat, email, self-talk as alternatives, but I find blogging more powerful and in-depth
— Eg: mgmt, interpersonal communications, assertiveness, leadership (vague) .. _applying_ is more important than reading. I have bought or borrowed many books and read many ..
— eg: reduce inactivity .. (active living) practicing is more important than learning. However in this domain there are not many books