Bill Gates' WEIRD Reading Habits (How Bill Gates Reads Books And Remembers Everything)
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Bill Gates's reading method emphasizes elaborative rehearsal through marginal note-taking and problem-focused selection (just-in-time learning) to integrate knowledge into identity rather than merely memorize information, though foundational books addressing unknown unknowns warrant exception to this principle.
- Elaborative rehearsal integrates new information across brain networks rather than storing isolated memory bubbles, enabling effortless decision-making based on embedded knowledge
- Just-in-time learning prioritizes reading about current problems over speculative future needs, mirroring Toyota's inventory efficiency and preventing wasted effort on irrelevant material
- Just-in-case books like Principles and the Bible address 'unknown unknowns,' teaching solutions to problems readers don't yet recognize they have
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Elaborative rehearsal is a learning method that integrates new information into existing knowledge networks across the brain, enabling effortless recall and decision-making because information fits naturally into one's worldview paradigm.
“elaborative rehearsal which is when you read something you make connections with that piece of information to other parts of your brain you hook that old information onto this new information so that it kind of integrates itself into your brain and this is completely real you can even Google maintenance rehearsal versus the laboratory her cyl and when you do elaborative rehearsal what that's going to do is you're going to be able to effortlessly memorize these pieces of information because not only are you just memorizing it as if it was an external bubble you're fully integrating it into who you are you're making so many connections that your brain just remembers that piece of information because it fits in with your paradigm or the way that you view the world and this is completely scientifically proven”
Maintenance rehearsal is a learning method that stores information through repetition in isolated memory 'bubbles' that are not integrated with other brain networks, making recall effortful and context-dependent.
“maintenance rehearsal is where you try and download pieces of information in your brain through repetition so this is what you would have done if you were stuttering for a history test you'd remember a date you'd repeat it to yourself again and again and again so that when it came to the essay or the test you were able to recall that information and put it into the essay the problem with this is the way I like to view it is that kind of information is stored in a bubble in your mind in its own separate place it's just a piece of memory it's not integrated all different parts of your brain”
Bill Gates's note-taking method involves writing notes while reading to ensure sustained concentration and to attach new knowledge to existing knowledge networks.
“when you're reading you have to be careful that you really are concentrating particularly if it's a non-fiction book are you taking the new knowledge and sort of attaching to knowledge we have and for me taking notes helps make sure that I'm really thinking hard about about what's in there”
There exists a distinction between things you know you know, things you know you don't know, things you don't know you know, and things you don't know you don't know (unknown unknowns).
“there are some things that you know that you know for example tying your shoelaces there are other things that you know that you don't know for example rocket science then there are other things that you don't know that you know and an example would be reading micro facial expressions and other humans you know you can do this in practice but you probably don't know the theory behind it then finally there are things that you don't know that you don't know”
Just-in-case (JIC) is a business inventory methodology where companies maintain large stockpiles of diverse products across colors, models, and types to immediately fulfill any customer order, incurring higher storage costs than just-in-time.
“what Ford used to do was the gist encase business methodology where they would have all of these different colors of car ready in all of the different models and all of the different types so that if someone made an order they would have it ready to ship out now the downside of that is you have to have a whole lot of inventory you have to have so many different combinations of type and color and model so that when someone orders you're able to ship it out straight away now the downside of having so much inventory is it's quite expensive to keep the more Inventure you have the greater the storage area has to be which means that the more expensive it is to keep all of that stock”
Just-in-time (JIT) is a business inventory methodology where companies maintain minimal inventory and produce items on-demand in response to orders, reducing storage costs compared to just-in-case inventory strategies.
“what Toyota started to do was to just-in-time methodology where they would have all of the pieces ready in their distributors and whenever someone ordered they would order all of the pieces for the car ready and make it on demand which is the gist entire methodology instead of having all of the cars just in case which took up a lot of storage and was expensive they made the cars on demand which meant that they only had to keep the storage of a very limited amount which was the cheaper methodology”
Just-in-time learning creates incremental progress on current problems, while speculative just-in-case learning wastes time on information that will never be applied or will require re-learning when eventually needed.
“which means instead of wasting your time about something you could use in the future which would be the just in case methodology you learn stuff about specific problems that you're having at the moment which helps you progress incremental progress over the problems you're having which is the just-in-time methodology”
When learning science, reading about the history of scientists and their periods of confusion reveals the tools and insights that enabled scientific progress, providing a temporal map and understanding of knowledge branches more effectively than abstract facts.
“if you want to learn science reading the history of scientists in the story of scientists about when they were confused and what tools are insights allowed them to make the progress they make so you have the timeline or you have the map or you have the branches of science and what's known and what's not so incremental knowledge is so much easier to maintain in a rich way”
How you read a book matters just as much as whether you read books; reading books in the wrong way causes you to miss significant benefits and may waste time entirely.
“what I found though was that it doesn't just matter if you're reading the book what matters just as much is how you read the book and if you're reading books in the wrong way then you're missing a lot of benefit and you could even be just wasting all of your time”
Reading should aim at absorbing information to integrate it into one's identity and life decisions rather than memorizing isolated facts; the goal is to become a better version of oneself through information percolation.
“when you're reading a book you shouldn't just be reading the book to memorize what it says you should be reading the book to absorb all of the information that's in there to let you make changes in your life and to kind of have that information percolate throughout your identity so that you end up becoming a better version of yourself after you've read that book”
Book selection should follow just-in-time methodology: read books addressing current problems and challenges rather than speculatively reading about potential future needs, mirroring Toyota's efficiency over Ford's inventory approach.
“the point being in telling you this is that you shouldn't read books that you might need in the future you should read books of a problem that you're having right now in the moment where at least I think that's what Bill Gates is trying to say”
Taking notes in book margins stimulates brain systems associated with elaborative rehearsal, enabling information integration into personal identity without forced effort.
“when you take notes in the margins of a book just like Bill Gates recommended you're stimulating the parts of the brain that go alongside elaborative rehearsal which means that by taking notes and asking yourself the question how can I apply this to my life you're not just reading the information to remember it like I said you're integrating it into who you are so that you start making decisions effortlessly differently because you now see the world differently”
Unknown unknowns (problems you don't know you have) require just-in-case foundational books that teach general solutions, allowing readers to recognize problems they didn't know existed and apply proven solutions.
“and this is the most difficult one to give examples for because you don't know that you don't know that thing and that's where I believe that just in case books can sometimes be of benefit because they teach you things that you don't know that they don't know a couple examples of this is principles which is a great book that's going to be a link down in the description for that and another great book is the Bible and even if you're not religious you can learn a lot from those things the point being you don't know that you have the problems that they believe give you the solution for but when you read them you recognize that you have this problem and that solution also works so sometimes just in case books like principles and like the Bible can actually be a lot of benefit to you”
People commonly waste time learning through YouTube videos and online courses for problems they don't currently face, seeking to prepare for speculative future needs like Facebook advertising, rather than focusing learning on active present problems.
“I see this happen in business all of the time people watch youtube videos and buy courses over problems that they're not having in the moment so people will learn about Facebook advertising because maybe two years in the future they're gonna learn about Facebook advertising and they're gonna use it in the future instead learn about something else about a problem you're having at the moment”
Bill Gates does not read every book he starts; he applies a selective framework to choose books worth completing, as forcing himself to finish every book creates undue pressure on book selection.
“I don't let myself start a book if you decide to finish every single book that you start it puts a lot of pressure on making sure that the book you're picking is the correct book”
When reading produces a 'lightbulb moment' (realization about behavioral improvement), that insight should be stored in a separate journal or note-taking system to preserve it permanently.
“whenever you're taking these notes and you stumble across a 1/2 moment where you finally have a realization about something you could be doing better then you want to store that 1/2 moment into some kind of a journal I use notion or whatever note-taking system you use”
A practical framework for book selection involves: identifying a personal problem you're facing, identifying people who have solved that problem, and reading books those people recommend, based on the logic that solutions proven for them likely work more broadly.
“after I heard Bill Gates talking about this the way that I started reading books was first of all I would think about a problem that I was facing second of all I would think of other people who had solved that problem third of all I would read any books that they've read or I would look for recommendations that that person recommends reading I would read those books and chances are if it worked for them it's also gonna work for me”
Reading Ray Dalio's Principles is valuable even speculatively (just-in-case) because it teaches general problem-solving frameworks addressing issues readers may not recognize they have.
“a couple examples of this is principles which is a great book”
The presenter applied the book selection framework to his desire to become more relentless: he identified Kobe Bryant as someone who exemplifies relentlessness, discovered that Kobe's coach Tim Grover wrote a book called Relentless, and found that reading it directly increased his motivation and drive.
“I wanted to become relentless so I asked myself this question what problem are my having the answer would be I want to become relentless then I thought what other people have solved this problem and the obvious example was someone like Kobe Bryant who just come to the top of his field then I asked myself the question right has he read has even barely reached in any books on becoming relentless no he hasn't but what books does he recommend then I stumbled across a book called relentless by Tim Grover who was actually Kobe Bryant's coach revealing everything that Kobe Bryant had taught him on how to become relentless so I went ahead read that book and it solved that problem for me just like the metaphor I was using before I took that piece of Lego iein grained it in my brain and because I was taking notes in the margin it automatically ingrained itself in me and straightaway after reading that book I found myself becoming a lot more motivated Lum was driven and ultimately a lot more relentless”
Bill Gates reports that when very young he took IQ tests and scored well, and identifies as someone who is good at tests.
“when I was very young I took some tests and I did well I'm good at tests”
Bill Gates participated in library reading contests as a child where he consistently read 35 books during summer contests while peers typically read 10-20, demonstrating early reading volume.
“there were always contests at the library in the summer where you know if you read ten books you got a little gold star bread 20 you got like two and they were like five or six girls and I would always read like 35 books”
Bill Gates prefers reading paper books and magazines to digital formats like Kindle, finding he will eventually transition but currently prefers the tactile and familiar experience despite the impracticality of carrying multiple books while traveling.
“over time I will make the switch but when I'm just sitting there at night reading often a paper magazine or the the book I'm used to that and it's ridiculous because I care I have whole book bag that goes on my trips with me and it's it's voluminous and antiquated”