this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2026
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How do I read? [Serious] (hexbear.net)
submitted 2 days ago by lobaa@hexbear.net to c/askchapo@hexbear.net
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OK the title is a joke but the question is serious. A bit of backstory:

My parents failed to make me love books, because they also introduced me to a PlayStation 2, and I decided that I like playing vidya games a lot more than reading stuff. School didn't make me love books either because the literature they force you to read in my curriculum, is, in my opinion, better suited for adult reading.

Fast forward to now, I am a freshman in a prestigious university, but it turns out that it requires me to read a lot of stuff, but I don't really have enough willpower to sit through academic literature for more than an hour a day. And the fact I'm noticeably behind my peers in amount of books read makes me feel like I don't belong.

So my question is how to learn to love reading books, get immersed or enter flow state or whatever, and also retain information? Is it some kind of talent or superpower? I know a few of my peers who don't stop reading books and seem to not distract themselves with tiktoks and video games, and attend optional lectures in their free time which is kind of insane to me, but I respect it a lot and want to become like them.

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[–] MaoTheLawn@hexbear.net 3 points 2 days ago

Think how much you're paying for your degree. If you get a student loan, run the numbers - until you start paying it back, they're paying you to learn. So make the most of it. You will never have this much free time to educate yourself again in your life.

As for distractions and flow state - it's just about getting on with it. Your brain has spent years being used to having fun doing shit that is designed specifically to be fun. Books arent designed with that in mind.

Unfortunately it is just a motivation thing. You just have to do it. Lest you become a slop-head.