University and Reading

So, this is not necessarily a very meaningful post, but I am currently sitting in on a lecture on the fundamentals of mathematics, where the lecturer is going over the logic stuff that I did when I was in first year. The point of sitting in is of course for the times when my undergrad maths didn't quite cover everything it needed to. So, whilst half listening to a maths lecture, I am thinking about what I have blogged about in the past. One of the common topics, is books. Those amazing things where the author provides an escape into a whole new world.

What does that have to do with university and reading? Well, the answer is simple. When I am busy with lectures and projects all day every day, I have less time to read. Well, I don't mean that my daily intake of written words decreases, but rather that the style of writing I read most changes. In the holidays there is time for as many novels as I like, and I can spend the mental energy on trying to read some of those books that come up in lists of books everyone should read, like the Illiad or Paradise lost. During the term, however, I mostly find that I am reading papers and textbooks which expand on topics discussed in class. Interestingly, the types of blogs I find time to read don't change, simply the volume.

I do have some time for novels though, I suppose, judging by the fact of my library books, those suggest that I manage to read a book every two weeks or so. Possibly a little shorter than two weeks. So perhaps I am not all so busy as I want people to think, but then I look around, and realise that there are people in my classes who have time to read all the extra resources posted for each course, and who have made even more progress on their projects than I have. I then remember, also, that these people, are much wiser than me, and do not do extra maths courses simply because they are awesome. Admittedly they don't think maths is awesome.

Okay, now that I have gone so far off that I don't know where I am, and I need a map to return to the point of this post, let me try find a new one. So I do have time to read (and maybe sleep) but I have to choose my reading material carefully. Reading papers and textbooks is very good for my knowledge base, but is it helpful in other ways? Will it help me sleep? Will it help me to solve the problem which makes up the project I am currently working on? I don't know. Will a novel do that? It might help me sleep, but I'm pretty sure it won't fulfill the others, except in a secondary manner.

On that note, I will make a decision. I should continue in my efforts to read through the whole wheel of time series, but I should also try to make time to read important extra material. Also, readinag around the topics on my own is a good idea. Thus may I justify to myself the download of the Principia Mathimatica from Archive.org.