什麼才是真正高水平的閱讀？以及讀書的四個層次

原文來自一個國外學習網站，作者不詳。巴菲特有個成功公式：讓你晚上睡覺的時候比早上起床的時候聰明。如何做到呢？答案很簡單：閱讀。但是什麼才是真正高水平的閱讀？

「Marking a book is literally an experience of your differences or agreements with the author. It is the highest respect you can pay him.」— Edgar Allen Poe

「標記一本書，就是和作者切磋彼此的觀點，同或不同。這是你可以給予他最崇高的敬意。「— 埃德加·愛倫·坡

You already know how to read. I bet you were taught how in elementary school.

你已經知道如何閱讀。我敢打賭，你在小學就被教過了。

But do you know how to read well?

但你知道如何高水平的的閱讀嗎？

Are you reading for information or understanding?

你閱讀是為了信息還是為了理解？

The Four Levels of Reading 閱讀的四個層次

Mortimer Adler literally wrote the the book on reading.

Mortimer事實上寫過關於閱讀的一本書。

His book, How to Read a Book, identifies four levels of reading:

他的書名字叫「如何閱讀一本書」，闡述了了四個層次的閱讀：

- Elementary 初級閱讀

- Inspectional 檢視閱讀

- Analytical 分析閱讀

- Syntopical 綜合閱讀

The goal of reading determines how you read.

閱讀的目的決定了你如何閱讀。

Reading the latest Danielle Steel novel is not the same as reading Plato. If you』re reading for entertainment or information, you』re going to read a lot differently (and likely different material) than reading to increase understanding. While many people are proficient in reading for information and entertainment, few improve their ability to read for knowledge.

閱讀最新的Dannielle的小說和閱讀柏拉圖是不一樣的。如果你為了休閑或信息而閱讀，會和為了增加理解而閱讀非常不一樣，閱讀的材料也會很不同。雖然很多人精通為了娛樂和信息而閱讀，很少人提高能力去為了知識而閱讀。

Before we can improve our reading skills, we need to understand the differences in the reading levels. They are thought of as levels because you can』t move to a higher level without a firm understanding of the previous one — they are cumulative.

在我們提高我們的閱讀能力之前，我們需要了解不同閱讀水平的差異。他們之所以被認為是不同的水平，因為你在沒打好上一個基礎之前無法進入到一個更高的水平—他們是遞進的。

How to Read a Book 如何閱讀一本書

1. Elementary Reading 初級閱讀

This is the level of reading taught in our elementary schools.

這是我們小學教過的閱讀水平。

2. Inspectional Reading 檢視閱讀

We』ve been taught that skimming and superficial reading are bad for understanding. That is not necessarily the case. Using these tools effectively can increase understanding. Inspectional reading allows us to look at the authors blueprint and evaluate the merits of a deeper reading experience.

我們被教導說，略讀和淺讀對理解沒好處。其實不一定是這種情況。使用這些工具可以有效地增加理解。 檢視閱讀讓我們可以看看作者的藍圖，評估更深的閱讀是否值得。

There are two types of inspectional reading:

有兩種類型檢視閱讀：

- Systematic skimming 系統性略讀

This is meant to be a quick check of the book by (1) reading the preface; (2) studying the table of contents; (3) checking the index; and (4) reading the inside jacket. This should give you sufficient knowledge to understand the chapters in the book pivotal to the authors argument. Dip in here and there, but neverwith more than a paragraph or two. Skimming helps you reach to a decision point: Does this book deservemore of my time and attention? If not you put it down.

這意味著通過以下的方式快速了解一本書：（1）讀書的序言（2）研究目錄（3）檢查索引（4）讀書的內封頁。這應該給你足夠的知識來了解本書的關鍵章節。這裡翻翻，那裡翻翻，但從來沒有超過一兩段以上。略讀可以幫助你達到一個決策點：這本書是否值得更多的時間和精力？如果不是，那就扔下。

- Superficial reading 淺讀

This is when you just read. Don』t ponder the argument, don』t look things up, don』t write in the margins. If you don』t understand something, move on. What you gain from this quick read will help you later when you go back and put more effort into reading. You now come to another decision point. Now that you have a better understanding of the books contents and its structure, do you want to understand it?

這就是泛泛而讀。不思考論據，不查找東西，不在空白處寫東西。如果你不明白的地方，就跳過。快速閱讀獲得的知識會在你回頭投入更多的精力閱讀時幫助你。你現在來到另一個決策點。你已經有對書的內容和結構有了一個更好的了解，你希望理解它嗎？

Inspectional reading gives you the gist of things. Sometimes that』s all we want or need. Too often however people stop here.

檢視閱讀給你東西的要點。有時候，這就是我們想要或需要的。不過，太多的時候，人們就到此為止了。

3. Analytical Reading分析閱讀

Francis Bacon once remarked 「some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.」 Think of analytical reading as chewing and digesting.

培根曾經說過「有些書可淺嘗，有些可吞食，少數則須咀嚼消化。」把分析閱讀想成咀嚼和消化。

Analytical reading is a thorough reading. If inspectional reading is the best you can do quickly, this is the best reading you can do given unlimited time. At this point you start to engage your mind and dig into the work required to understand what』s being said.

分析閱讀是徹底的閱讀。如果檢視閱讀是短時間可以做到最好的，分析閱讀就是給你無限制的時間你可以做的最好的閱讀。從此時起，你開始集中精力，深入的工作來理解書里說了什麼。

There are rules to analytical reading

分析閱讀有一些規則：

- Classify the book according to kind and subject matter.

- State what the whole book is about with the utmost brevity.

- Enumerate its major parts in their order and relation, and outline these parts as you have outlined the whole.

- Define the problem or problems the author is trying to solve.

-根據種類和主題把書分類

-以最簡潔的方式闡述書的內容

-按順序和關係枚舉它的主要部分，並概述它們

-定義作者試圖解決的問題

You』ll probably notice that while those sound pretty easy, they involve a lot of work. Luckily the inspectional reading you』ve already done has primed you for this.

你可能會注意到，這些聽起來很簡單，但它們涉及了很多工作。幸運的是，檢視閱讀已經幫你做了準備工作。

When you』ve done this you will understand the book but you might not understand the broader subject. To do that you need to use comparative reading to synthesize knowledge from several books on the same subject.

當你這樣做了，你會理解這本書，但你可能不理解更廣泛的問題。要做到這一點，你需要利用綜合閱讀，來綜合同一主題的不同書本的知識。

4. Syntopical Reading綜合閱讀

This is also known as comparative reading and it represents the most demanding and difficult reading of all. Syntopical Reading involves reading many books on the same subject and comparing and contrasting the ideas.

這也被稱為比較閱讀。它代表所有閱讀中最苛刻和最難的。綜合閱讀涉及閱讀同一主題的大量的書籍，比較和對比想法。

This task is undertaken by identifying relevant passages, translating the terminology, framing and ordering questions we need answered, defining the issues and having a conversation with the responses.

這個任務是通過識別相關段落、翻譯術語、恰當的構造問題、定義衝突並對答案進行討論。

The goal is not to achieve an overall understanding of any particular book, but rather to determine how to make the books useful to you.

我們的目標不是對某本書達到完全的理解，而是要決定如何讓這些書本對我們有用。

This is all about you and filling in your gaps.

這一切都是關於你，以及如何填補你的差距。

There are five steps to syntopical reading:綜合閱讀有五個步驟：

Finding the Relevant Passages尋找相關段落

You need to find the right books and then the passages that are most relevant to filling your needs. So the first step is an inspectional reading of all the works that you have identified as relevant.

你需要找到填補你需求的最合適的書籍和段落。所以第一步是你檢視閱讀所有相關的書本。

Bringing the Author to Terms統一術語

In analytical reading you must identify the key words and how they are used by the author. This is fairly straightforward.

在分析閱讀時，你必須確定關鍵詞以及作者是如何使用它們的。這比較簡單直接。

The process becomes more complicated now as each author has probably used different terms and concepts to frame their argument. Now the onus is on you to establish the terms. Rather than using the authors language, you must use your own.

但這個過程會變得越來越複雜，因為每個作者可能使用了不同的術語和概念來闡述他們的論點。現在的你的責任是建立自己的術語。不是使用作者的語言，你必須使用你自己的。

In short this is an exercise in translation and synthesis.

簡而言之，這是翻譯和合成的練習。

Getting the Questions Clear搞清楚問題

Rather than focus on the problems the author is trying to solve, you need to focus on the questions you want answered. Just as we must establish our own terminology, so too must we establish our own propositions by shedding light on our problems to which the authors provide answers.

不要把重點放在作者試圖解決的問題，你需要把重點放在你想回答的問題上。正如我們必須建立我們自己的術語，我們需要建立自己的立場，通過了解作者對我們問題提供的答案。

It』s important to frame the questions in such a way that all or most of the authors can be interpreted as providing answers. Sometimes we might not get an answer to our questions because they might not have been seen as questions by the authors.

很重要的是，我們需要恰當的構造我們的問題，確保所有或大部分的作者能夠提供相對應的答案。有時候，我們的問題不一定能得到答案，因為作者或許沒有把它當做一個問題。

Defining the Issues定義衝突

If you』ve asked a clear question to which there is multiple answers then an issue has been defined. Opposing answers, now translated into your terms, must be ordered in relation to one another. Understanding multiple perspectives within an issue helps you form an intelligent opinion.

如果你問一個明確的問題，得到多個答案，那麼答案之間的衝突之處就出來了。對立的不同答案，已經被翻譯成你的術語，你必須按順序把他們排列關聯起來。理解衝突的多個角度幫助你形成一個聰明的觀點。

Analyzing the Discussion分析討論

It』s presumptuous to expect we』ll find a single unchallenged truth to any of our questions. Our answer is the conflict of opposing answers. The value is within the discussion you have with these authors. You can now have an informed opinion.

期望對我們的任何問題都得到了一個唯一的真理是不切實際的。對立答案的衝突本身就是我們的答案。其價值存在於你和這些作者的討論當中。因為，現在你已經擁有一個見識廣泛的觀點。

Become a Demanding Reader成為一個苛刻的讀者

Reading is all about asking the right questions in the right order and seeking answers.

閱讀就是以正確的順序提出正確的問題並尋求答案。

There are four main questions you need to ask of every book:對於每本書，你應該問以下的四個主要問題：

- What is this book about?這是一本什麼書

- What is being said in detail and how?細節是什麼？怎麼說的？

- Is this book true in whole or in part?這本書的全部或部分正確嗎？

- What of it? 這為什麼很重要？

If all of this sounds like hard work, you』re right. Most people won』t do it. That』s what sets you apart.

如果這一切聽起來像辛勤工作，你說得對。大多數人不會這麼做。這才會讓你與眾不同。

人與人之間最大的差別不是智商或財富，而是思考問題的層次。關注公眾號理想島（ID：lixiangdao002），提升認知維度。

喜歡這篇文章嗎？立刻分享出去讓更多人知道吧！