"Have you read it?" The meaninglessness of the question "Have you read it?

On the question of whether or not you have read a particular book X

• It’s pointless to ask if they’ve read a particular book because most of them don’t remember the content even if they have read it.
• Don’t check every single thing, and always speak with the assumption that people don’t read.
• On the rare occasion that you meet someone who has read the book and understands it well, you can have interesting discussions because they see the same book from different perspectives.

inverse pattern

• Have you read it?” The person who is asked
  • Whether you read it or not, it’s probably in your best interest to say, “I’m sorry, I didn’t read it,” and let the other person explain.
    • Because you get a representation from the other person’s point of view of what you’ve read and you understand it better.
  • If you’ve read it, you might as well say “I read it, but I don’t remember much about it.

Specifics.

• I think I read it because I vaguely remember the physical image of “Rhetoric and Life,” but maybe I didn’t read it because no notes were left behind, or maybe “having read it or not” is “having no information content” in the first place? A train of thought that goes something like this

relevance - How to talk openly about books you haven’t read

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