THE PAGE 69 TEST. Annalisa sent me this link, which passes on Marshall McLuhan’s recommendation that in deciding whether you want to read a book, you should decide whether you enjoy reading page 69 of the book. I have suggested to Annalisa in the past that she read the first page of a book in making a decision. Of course you have to be willing to stop reading if you don’t like the first page. Tyler Cowen in DISCOVER YOUR INNER ECONOMIST says that you should always be willing to treat “sunk costs as sunkâ€, to “let bygones be bygones.†He says he follows this precept by finishing only one out of every ten books he starts. His test is, “Is this the best possible book that I could be reading right now of all the books in the world?†He applies the same test to movies. He writes of happily choosing to see only parts of four movies in a single day.
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That seems like an awfully high standard to apply to one’s leisure time. I do see what he’s getting at though. There is an awful lot of opportunity cost involved in consuming inferior materials.
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