One Simple Technique To Assess Arguments Made By Authors In Books

A single habit has improved the quality of my book reading more than anything else: reading rebuttals.

To explain, let me first give some context.

I’ve long enjoyed reading big-idea books in science, business or self-improvement. These books range from mega-bestsellers (The Tipping Point; Guns, Germs and Steel) to the relatively obscure (The Enigma of Reason; How Asia Works).

In most cases, I don’t have deep expertise in the topic I’m reading about. The research…