A Velocity of Being is a collection organized by Maria Popova, founder of the Brain Pickings website that has become one of my most reliable sources for book recommendations over the past few years. This book, her second, features letters written from various writers to young children about the joys and wonders of reading. Alongside each letter is an illustration that captures an important element of the essence in each piece. In this particular collection, I enjoyed Andrew Solomon’s note and reread it a second time. Although none of the other letters stood out to merit a reread, I found plenty of ideas and insights that I’ve collected in my notes.
One up: The idea I liked best stated that information isn’t knowledge. It seems particularly relevant at a time when our collective access to information is increasing at a far faster rate than our collective improvement in knowledge (and this doesn’t even get into those situations where having more knowledge causes people to change otherwise sound decisions like getting vaccines).
One down: There are a lot of “true until it isn’t” insights scattered throughout this book. One example is the idea that if you are reading a book, you aren’t alone. True enough, but I’ve definitely had reading experiences that emphasized rather than alleviated loneliness.
Another letter noted that we read what we are as much as we are what we read. Again, true enough, but what does that mean when the book I’m reading is one I picked out totally at random? “True until it isn’t” is the lifeblood of the half-assed advice industry.
Just saying: I suppose I’ve always liked the construct of people reaching back and giving advice to a younger generation. There is also a particular variant on this theme where the addressee is a past version of the author. I always think about this when I make my arguments against the possibility of time travel – if it ever became possible, one of the most popular activities would be to go back to the past and give advice, but since my ninety-two year old future me isn't here telling me who is going to win the game tomorrow, I have a hunch this time travel thing is nothing but a nice fantasy.
