The Opportunity Costs of Reading Books

The Opportunity Costs of Reading Books

• Many effective altruists and rationalists oppose reading books due to the opportunity costs involved.
• The belief is that most books are unnecessarily long and filled with fluff to make them seem impressive.
• Authors often extend their ideas into books to boost their CV and gain media attention.
• The last part of the book "Lifespan" by David Sinclair contains two chapters about his political and social views that are not related to his area of expertise on aging.
• Sinclair's opinions on politics and social issues are unremarkable and similar to what one would find in Atlantic think pieces.
• The majority of books are similar to this, with needless padding and repetitive arguments.
• Academics often publish a paper in a major journal and then present the same results in a book, adding useless words.
• Economists are generally more negative towards books due to opportunity costs.
• Reading a 300-page book may not be the most efficient way to learn about a topic, as shorter articles and summaries can provide the same information.
• Academic articles are often filled with filler and can be skipped in parts.
• Substacks and tweets are efficient methods of transferring information as they cut out the useless fluff.
• Reading a book is a large commitment that puts the reader at the mercy of one author's perspective.