Just before I started working again during my burnout, I thought stoicism could help me process my thoughts and feelings better, so I asked How to Be Free for my birthday. It’s a tiny book that lists the teachings of Epictetus, a well-known stoic philosopher from ancient Greece. Despite enjoying it, it took me a while to finish.
Fast forward a year. I came across a copy of Ik weet je wachtwoord (translation: I know your password). It’s a Dutch book by journalist Daniël Verlaan about cybersecurity. The author takes you on a ride through data leaks, exploits, cybercrime, the ethics of reporting on and publishing those, interviews with victims and perpetrators, and of course tips on how to protect yourself. I couldn’t get enough and found myself reading every night.
I’ve virtually never read a book from cover to cover until these. “I don’t have the patience,” I’d say. In hindsight, it wasn’t a lack of patience, but failing to see the benefit of long-form content. For years, I’ve consumed digestible bites of educational content that glosses over a topic in 30 minutes or less and got hands-on when something sparked my interest enough. I never realised I had a blind spot for topics that can’t be learned via this hands-on approach. Short tidbits and long-form content are complementary! It’s embarrassing that took me well over 30 years to realise.
“What about novels,” I hear you asking. My focus continues to be exploring ideas to learn from, but I have a handful of novels in my reading queue.
Check out the books page if you’re interested in what I’m reading, and please recommend me a book on Mastodon.