I was in Waterstones over the weekend taking a nose at the Mind & Spirit section. I saw a few Tao related books that caught my eye, but I didn’t feel particularly motivated to read them. I found the same with the Python books in the computing section. Now, I know that I can get plenty of Taoist and Python texts for free on the Internet, but this made me revisit a question I’d mentally skirted a week or so ago: Is it possible to read too much on a subject?
Now I think about it, how many books on a subject do you need? The core book of Taoism is the Tao Te Ching and it’s a good idea to read Chuang Tsu as well. I started with The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet, then the TTC, then eventually Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. With programming all you really need is a couple of good books, I usually find that one won’t cover all the aspects of a language.
I think that too much reading on a subject even if you’re trying to apply the teachings can make it too intellectual and dry and suck the life out of it. Just as too many cooks spoil the broth, reading too many authors takes the joy of discovery out of the subject. I also suspect ego involvement, i.e. “I’ve read all these books, and you haven’t, so I’m better than you”.
Knowledge doesn’t equal understanding or wisdom, you can only read so much. You need to put it into practice, see it in the real world, take what you’ve learned and strut your stuff with it. Take a few knocks, maybe, that’s the best way to understand, by doing.
Hmm, I think I’ll stay with the books I’ve got for now.
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