1. The Fallacy of "Speed"

Most people read to "finish" the book. This is vanity metrics. A Synthesizer reads to find the missing puzzle piece.

You do not need to read every word. Francis Bacon said: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."

In 2026, AI can summarize the plot. Your job is to extract the Mental Model.

2. The "Smart Skim" Protocol

• The Index Scan: Read the index first. Look for terms you don't know. Jump straight to those pages.
• The Argument Audit: Read the first and last paragraph of every chapter. 80% of the value is there.
• The Syntopical Read: Read 3 books on the same topic simultaneously. Look for where they disagree. That is where the truth lies.