Books Are Just Better

Better than what?  Better than the internet, that’s what.   While you might be able to find the same information and even find real wisdom, nothing matches a well written book, here’s why.   The act of constriction.  Any good author possessing of wisdom and knowledge could fill page after page communicating the ideas he or she wishes to express.  The act of constricting it and going through an editorial process both by himself and by others, results in a better presentation of the topic.

I could record and transcribe, every educational interaction I have with my patients on a daily basis and I would have a page after page of information but it wouldn’t be an effective teaching tool unless I sat down and selected, deleted, and crafted them into a message that could resonate with people.

Another example : If I am communicating with a peer, I could use medical language to explain the condition I am treating.   If I have to explain that to a patient, I have to explain it differently, which requires I craft it to be understood at a lower level. This requires effort and skill.     Try telling the same information to a kindergarten class and the amount of effort involved to make them understand is increased further. 

The good writer painstakingly reviews, edits, constricts the information until the form it is presented is concisely presented so you can understand it.  

Perhaps it is not a complete surprise that the Hebrew mystics described the act of creation as an act of “withdrawal.”   They explained that the light of God being infinitely bright would obliterate anything in its way so the act of creation was a partial divine withdrawal to allow something else to exist, at least from our perspective.    

Creation both Divine and in a matter of speaking in the creation of expression, art, teaching etc is often an initial expansion but then just the opposite, an active constriction, otherwise it is often unintelligible and sloppy.   Has a great book been written on the topic you are interested in?  You’ll likely save time and be more enriched reading that book instead of surfing the internet.   At least that has been my experience.

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