I thought the more frequent my reading, the smarter I’d get.

It’s true—up to a certain point.

I think I’m past that point.

And you might be too.

Why reading makes you smarter

More dots to connect

I binge on all the content I can get my hands on:

• Newsletters

• Podcasts

• Articles

• Threads

• Videos

Your dot-connecting capability remains the same, but you keep on adding new dots to the space. And this helps become an interesting chap, for sure.

The (pseudo) math behind

But not any smarter past a certain point

The dot-connecting headspace

Past a certain content consumption frequency, you can't enjoy its benefits anymore.

Worse: it becomes detrimental, because you’re depriving yourself of the equally valuable dot-connecting headspace.

Fear of missing out

And deep down, you know that you've gone too far: there's a ton of dots floating around, and it feels like a finger snap would suffice to connect them.

But each time your fingers are about to snap, you indulge your FOMO and distract yourself with yet another piece of content.

Idleness fuels creativity

That's why your best ideas pop up during the shower or when you go to sleep (and also because your damn phone's away).

So, people would say just drop the phone and carve 15min out from your daily schedule for the sole purpose of mind wandering.

Pascal was right

But I find quite hard to be honest, because for me, the idea of doing nothing but think is daunting and guilt-inducing.

That’s why it’s so hard not to cross the point of diminishing returns.