I strongly disagree. It seems to assume that everything is read as often as it's written which is not true. The best writing is written once and read millions or billions of times. Maybe it should be write 1/100th or 1/1000th of what you read. (But even this assumes that what you're writing is worthwhile, which for lots of people I think is not true).
There are details to Rule #6 I didn't include in the original post.
Reading makes you smarter. But is also a passive conformist activity. Being smarter is advantageous. Being a passive conformist is disadvantageous.
Consuming media created by others is a passive activity. You are not doing anything. I value doing over thinking. See Rule #3.
Except for some books in math and the hard sciences, there's no test of how well you've read a book, and that's why merely reading books doesn't quite feel like work.
―How to Do What You Love by Paul Graham
Consuming media created by others is a conformist activity. You are running someone else's thoughts through your brain.
Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
If you want to be Albert Einstein you can't just read his work. You have to copy. You have to steal. See Rule #11.
You can have the best of both worlds by doing things and writing about your experiences. Writing isn't just the process of dumping preconceived thoughts into a keyboard. Writing creates ideas and forces them to be coherent. This creates value independent of whether anyone reads what you write.
If all you want to do is figure things out, why do you need to write anything, though? Why not just sit and think? Well, there precisely is Montaigne's great discovery. Expressing ideas helps to form them. Indeed, helps is far too weak a word. Most of what ends up in my essays I only thought of when I sat down to write them. That's why I write them.
In the things you write in school you are, in theory, merely explaining yourself to the reader. In a real essay you're writing for yourself. You're thinking out loud.
But not quite. Just as inviting people over forces you to clean up your apartment, writing something that other people will read forces you to think well.
―The Age of the Essay by Paul Graham
Creating art distills information. It is true that you do not get raw data from writing. But you do not get raw data from reading either. You get raw data from doing things.
Consuming media created by others is a passive activity
I think I just fundamentally disagree with this. Reading can be passive, but it can be active as well. Reading doesn't just mean "looking at words".
You are running someone else's thoughts through your brain.
I don't really accept that this is what reading is like. I read your post, but I didn't mindlessly accept what you had to say.
I strongly disagree with that too. If someone says "x is true" when x is not true, then saying "x is not true" does have value. Assuming you're talking to a reasonable person
I think the subtext of you asking that is you are saying that I am not "refuting the central point". (I also disagree with that, but ymmv)
This is a ripoff of Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life.
These rules work for me. Reverse or ignore this advice as appropriate for your own circumstances.
1. Cultivate an indomitable will.
Willpower gives you options. The simplest way to build willpower is via savage trials of pure effort. Physical willpower transfers easily to intellectual willpower.
2. Do everything that frightens you.
The obvious exceptions to this rule could fill a book. The non-obvious exceptions could fill a library. I find it a useful heuristic anyway.
3. Do not criticize, condemn or complain.
Speak in positive declarations. Never make excuses.
4. Remove toxic people from your life.
People who criticize, condemn and complain are toxic. So is anyone who angers frequently, anyone who regularly indulges in wishful thinking and anyone who cannot be relied upon.
This rule applies to meatspace. You should not stop publishing your art online just because someone hurt your feelings.
5. Ignore anything that won't matter ten years from now.
Ignore news and advertising. Watch little TV. Play few videogames.
6. Create more information than you consume.
There are many exceptions to this rule. Kids need to read lots of books. You should write more as an adult to compensate.
Spend no more time reading blogs than you do writing them.
7. Assume other people are sheep.
This works better the more exceptionally nonconformist you are.
8. Assume all people act inefficiently.
This works best if you are exceptionally capable. If you are among stupidest 85% of people then reverse this advice.
9. Do things the hard, cheap, unpopular way.
Often there are two ways of doing something:
When you encounter a choice like this, take the hard option. Lift barbells. Start a company. Configure your computer so you can operate it without a mouse. Give Zen a shot (and then quit if you don't observe benefits within 15 minutes).
10. Be prepared.
11. Steal like an artist.
Copy what you like.
12. Tell as much truth as you can get away with.
Express your feelings. Confide in your friends. If your gonzo ideas are beyond the pale then download tor and publish them on a free WordPress account under an alias.